Any tips on what to look/ask for or research?
Typically I look for the following types of things
- pre-1965 US silver coins, or pre-1967 silver Canadian coins
- anything not silver that is old (Indian head and 1920s and back wheat cent pennies, buffalo nickels etc or anything older that that)
- older bank notes, the older and better condition they are, the more likely they are to have value. Also, older notes with a star or asterisk by the serial number indicates it is a replacement note, usually holding more collector value.
As with selling anything, presentation is important, coin holders and bill sleeves along with proper labels of what the item is and anything special about it go a long way to increasing the collector value. Just don't jump into trying to number-grade the coins or bills condition, collectors don't tend to like it when something's been graded by a non-professional numismatist.
I avoid being choosy when I ask about old coins and bills at the bank, and typically take whatever they have, even if some or most of it doesn't have any value over face for me (I can always take it to another bank later for the same that I paid for it). It saves me wasting their time while I sort through everything, and avoids giving away what types of things I'm really after.