I have coal and no clue.

You can try to sell it on http://www.craigslist.org

From the pic I would say it is anthracite coal and pea sized at that. The amount you have there is another question, as well as what to charge.

Don't rush into getting rid of the coal. You may change you mind once you see your heating bill for this winter. Anthracite coal is one of the cleanest forms of heating you can find. It isn't that hard to unbrick a fireplace and pipe a stove into it.

The thing is, the previous owners did not love the home. We already need to replace the roof and 40 windows. It's a historic landmark so we can't go cheap. We are busy with replacing so many appliances, toilets, etc that adding even a $300 stove along with the chimney fixing cost is not likely.

mamaduck60 wrote:The thing is, the previous owners did not love the home. We already need to replace the roof and 40 windows. It's a historic landmark so we can't go cheap. We are busy with replacing so many appliances, toilets, etc that adding even a $300 stove along with the chimney fixing cost is not likely.

What are you heating with now? You may find that you will save a bundle each season by heating with coal. I'm guessing that it may take up to $4,000 for installing a brand new stove, including having it hooked up properly and safely to a chimney by someone fully capable of the task, but you may easily gain that back in only a few short years. Particularly if you are heating with oil, propane, or electricity.

If you have hot water baseboard or steam heat, you may want to consider a coal boiler.

How many floors are you heating?

That is definitely NOT anthracite coal. The pieces are very dull except for a few shiny pieces. Notice the color of the shiny pieces, it doesn't look like anthracite. Also, 100 years ago, anthracite would not have been available in SW Ohio.

Pick up a couple of pieces and try to crumble them up in your hand. If you can crumble them, it is Bituminous.

Oppps, fire-up a stack?

I would imagine that anthracite would have been more readily available 75-100 years ago in SW Ohio than it is today. But the local coal is definitely bituminous. It could just be dusty.

75 years ago, it was the middle of the Roosevelt depression. People did not have any spare money to spend on heat. I'll bet anyone a bucket of coal that it is bit.

Duengeon master wrote:75 years ago, it was the middle of the Roosevelt depression. People did not have any spare money to spend on heat. I'll bet anyone a bucket of coal that it is bit.

Perhaps the previous owners had no clue as to how long it was actually down there, and merely guessed. An inflated guess sounds more impressive. It adds to the aura and mystique of the century home. It seems odd for bituminous to be sized that small. Bituminous stoker coal is larger than that, no?

Bituminous breaks down over time. It may have been bigger lumps a while ago.

md, 1st thing is to figure out what you've got,there are ways to distinguish bit from ant--someone will chime in here & tell you how--Then just post it on CL or a local paper, local market bulletin board, etc. Hate to tell you, but if someone has to get in there & bucket it out--you're probably looking at a freeby just to get it gone, which it sounds like you want to do.

I'm going to go on some memory--take a piece & put a bic lighter to it--if it lights up quickly, it's bit--if not it's anthracite--wait for some bit guys to chime in though

It sounds like about half a seasons worth (to perhaps a full seasons worth) of free heat there as my first guess (sans for the initial cost of the stove and the install). The fuel savings alone should pay for a fair part of the one time stove and install costs.

I did pick up the coal. It is shiny and does not crumble.
The home is about 3900sq ft, two stories. Right now it is heated with a boiler system, radiator in every room.
I would much rather give the stuff away (Luckily the cellar door is right next to the coal). Any home repairs/renovations that touch the outside of the house have to be authorized through city channels because of the historic landmark stuff.

I should mention, the people that would have been the purchasers of the coal would not have been concerned with money, at least not very concerned.

Did you try lighting a chunk yet?