Phil,
Find a ring tester to use to test them (Sometimes just called a ringer). Most TV shops or electronics shops have them. They are made specifically for testing electric coils/transformers. They send current through a coil that spits out a nice pretty curve with the actual usability of a coil under loaded condition. Just measuring resistance tells you if it open, shorted or whatever at that time with no load this does not tell you the actual inductance or inductive reactance. XsubL.
