First, welcome aboard @aknow11.
I highly recommend that you do extensive research on Morgan coins to gain valuable knowledge
on what to look for.
This will help you with raw coin purchases be they shows or coin stores.
I too say start with the BST forum here.
Best of luck.
Wayne
@WAYNEAS said:
First, welcome aboard @aknow11.
I highly recommend that you do extensive research on Morgan coins to gain valuable knowledge
on what to look for.
This will help you with raw coin purchases be they shows or coin stores.
I too say start with the BST forum here.
Best of luck.
Wayne
Great advice! There's a Bowers Series Official Red Book on Morgans that may be of interest to you, for one.
I've been putting a Date Set of Morgan Dollars together off and on (back "on") for quite some time. I started again about a year ago. I'm looking for AU pieces with understated yet attractive toning. Since all of these are going into an album it didn't matter to me if they were slabbed or raw. I purchased 5 from a Board Member through the BST. There were no issues with either the transaction or the coins. After PM'ing back and forth a couple of times he knew what I was looking for and delivered! Ebay has been a "hit or miss" proposition, especially with raw coins. As others have alluded to, juiced photos... angles and lighting that hide hairlines... etc... seem to be more prevalent these days. Early on, I could buy slabbed coins that fit my collecting requirements (AU with nice fields and attractive toning) for ~$40-$50 each... I figured someone submitted a coin they thought was MS and got the dread AU55 designation and they were just trying to get back grading fees/shipping. At the time, I thought it was a bit spendy for a certified AU Morgan, but I don't see them at that price any more... more in the $60-$80 range for what I'm looking for. Occasionally there are a few that slip by... many 1921's (although not so much any more with the introduction of the 2021 Dollars). The bottom line... I'm not wasting my time on ebay looking for these any more. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the population has "discovered" these things and bid strongly! Anyway, here is a representative of one I got from a board member, and another cracked from a slab...
Collecting: Dansco 7070; Middle Date Large Cents (VF-AU); Box of 20;
@BAJJERFAN said:
There is a former PCGS grader named Dale Williams who sells raw coins on eBay. I don't remember his eBay handle, but I'm sure that someone here will know it. He would be one source if you are looking for coins that haven't been messed with.
When I was actively collecting Morgans 15-20 years ago, I bot more raw Morgans from CollectorUSA (Dale) then any other seller on EBAY. His coins were always spot on and priced right. Maybe bot 20, none were cleaned or had issues, and his grades were spot on. He always had a great collection of original Morgans, here's 2, an 89s in XF and 94S in VF20 he sold me.
@Type2 said:
Just use tile nips or you can do this way, Lol I don’t recommend it.
Love it
I'll try that lol
I feel like that could easily damage a larger coin depending on how the holder breaks.
The way I crack out NGC slabs (and I just did one yesterday) is I hit it around the edge with the handle of a screwdriver, the small mass of the screwdriver allows you to hit it with great speed, the shock from the impact cracks the holder almost perfectly around its edge.
@aknow11 said:
I have a rudimentary question, I'm old fashioned and want to complete books of Morgan dollars. Where do the knowledgeable members buy such coins w/o cleaning, and w/o plastic certification holders? Is that still possible in 2022? I see amazing coins on Heritage auction sites, almost all PCGS certified. Thanks for your input.
I started off the same with Morgans in the raw from the LCS for my Dansco, but pretty soon reached a point where I could not find at the brick and mortar places, the ones needed to complete the collection and had to source them online.
Needless to say, had to go the "slabbed" route thinking i would crack them out and then soon enough, it cascaded into a quest to get them all in graded form.
Let me warn you that it gets mighty heavy on the pocket for a small time collector like me even if it were to be sought in lower grades.
Now am stuck with one and three fourths of a collection of Morgans (don't have 1895 - the king of Morgans) and finding it seemingly difficult to let go of the ones that are extras to release the cash that is stuck. Hindsight is 2020 and with some due diligence, could have used all that extra for better slabs
Comments
Just checking back to what other advise was given…have to say the thread went in a direction I wouldn’t have expected. Lol
First, welcome aboard @aknow11.
I highly recommend that you do extensive research on Morgan coins to gain valuable knowledge
on what to look for.
This will help you with raw coin purchases be they shows or coin stores.
I too say start with the BST forum here.
Best of luck.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
Great advice! There's a Bowers Series Official Red Book on Morgans that may be of interest to you, for one.
I've been putting a Date Set of Morgan Dollars together off and on (back "on") for quite some time. I started again about a year ago. I'm looking for AU pieces with understated yet attractive toning. Since all of these are going into an album it didn't matter to me if they were slabbed or raw. I purchased 5 from a Board Member through the BST. There were no issues with either the transaction or the coins. After PM'ing back and forth a couple of times he knew what I was looking for and delivered! Ebay has been a "hit or miss" proposition, especially with raw coins. As others have alluded to, juiced photos... angles and lighting that hide hairlines... etc... seem to be more prevalent these days. Early on, I could buy slabbed coins that fit my collecting requirements (AU with nice fields and attractive toning) for ~$40-$50 each... I figured someone submitted a coin they thought was MS and got the dread AU55 designation and they were just trying to get back grading fees/shipping. At the time, I thought it was a bit spendy for a certified AU Morgan, but I don't see them at that price any more... more in the $60-$80 range for what I'm looking for. Occasionally there are a few that slip by... many 1921's (although not so much any more with the introduction of the 2021 Dollars). The bottom line... I'm not wasting my time on ebay looking for these any more. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the population has "discovered" these things and bid strongly! Anyway, here is a representative of one I got from a board member, and another cracked from a slab...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
Dale's ebay store
When I was actively collecting Morgans 15-20 years ago, I bot more raw Morgans from CollectorUSA (Dale) then any other seller on EBAY. His coins were always spot on and priced right. Maybe bot 20, none were cleaned or had issues, and his grades were spot on. He always had a great collection of original Morgans, here's 2, an 89s in XF and 94S in VF20 he sold me.
What years are you ISO? we have raw ungraded Morgans and peace dollars.
We must have scared the OP off. He hasn't logged in since his first day on the forums.
Do you have 34S?
I feel like that could easily damage a larger coin depending on how the holder breaks.
The way I crack out NGC slabs (and I just did one yesterday) is I hit it around the edge with the handle of a screwdriver, the small mass of the screwdriver allows you to hit it with great speed, the shock from the impact cracks the holder almost perfectly around its edge.
Collector, occasional seller
I started off the same with Morgans in the raw from the LCS for my Dansco, but pretty soon reached a point where I could not find at the brick and mortar places, the ones needed to complete the collection and had to source them online.
Needless to say, had to go the "slabbed" route thinking i would crack them out and then soon enough, it cascaded into a quest to get them all in graded form.
Let me warn you that it gets mighty heavy on the pocket for a small time collector like me even if it were to be sought in lower grades.
Now am stuck with one and three fourths of a collection of Morgans (don't have 1895 - the king of Morgans) and finding it seemingly difficult to let go of the ones that are extras to release the cash that is stuck. Hindsight is 2020 and with some due diligence, could have used all that extra for better slabs
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/quarters/PCGS-2020-quarter-quest/album/247091
This is my personal one. Not a super great specimen. I can check at the shop this morning and see if we have any better.