any coin collectors out there?

Hello, I have some questions about some coins my boyfriend brought back from Iraq. When they were stationed at the foot of some mountains over there and it rained really hard they would find coins every now and then in the sand..they are VERY old and tarnised and they aren't like...very pretty. Like they aren't perfectly round and some of the stuff is rubbed off like they don't look like they were pressed they look like they were hammered out flat if that makes sense? And I mean I don't know if they are Iraq money...Will (boyfriend) said that the Iraq guy in their Unit told his parents about them and they said that they were really old coins and worth money..but ya know..do they really know? I don't really want to get rid of them..I kind of think they would be an awesome thing to hand down to our kids generation to generation but Will is bent on seeing GREEN. We took them to an antique dealer today and he was a jerk and I didn't like him any how and every time I tried to talk Will OUT of selling the coins the butt whole dealer would say something else...so I had to be a woman and be a 'you know what' to get my way..so we still have them. But the dealer DID seem interested. Should I see if I can find a 'true' coin dealer in my area and see what he/she says????? Should I put them on Ebay and see who bites?? Any suggestions would be AMAZING! Thanks again