I Just Started a Morgan Dollar DATE Set - If you like toners, DON’T Open! @Ricko is welcome!

winesteven

In a very recent thread, a new collector was asking for advice on starting a Morgan Dollar collection. He received excellent advice!

Having just finished my unique Indian Head Cent set, that thread inspired me to start a Morgan Dollar DATE set. I don’t have the patience for a complete date and mint mark set. Financially, if I did that, I’d have to buy coins in lower grades. For me, my preference is to have fewer coins, but have those coins in higher grades.

The first thing I learned is that unlike my other large silver coins, like my Type Set Trade Dollar and Seated Dollars (and Half Dollars as well), Morgan Dollars, even in relatively high grades, tend to exhibit a LOT more “distractions” (some hits, some luster breaks) in key areas of the obverse - the cheek, the neck, the rest of the face, and even in the fields. So with my other large silver coins I would avoid coins with those distractions. With Morgan’s, it seems to be the nature of the beast. As such, I’ve been told to look for coins with fewer of those distractions. I’ve also been told that many times the photos, including TrueViews, tend to magnify these distractions, where the coin in hand is actually nicer than the photos.

I recognize knowledgeable numismatists and collectors prefer and value attractively toned Morgan’s and coins with “skin”, as that proves originality. As I’ve regularly stated in other threads, my personal preference is part of the large but silent minority group who just love fully lustrous, flashy, blast white, cartwheel blinding Morgan’s, that look like the designer envisioned they would look as they came off the press. Yes, they’ve likely been dipped, but apparently gently enough that CAC still stickers them.

From my Type Sets, I’ve had two of the 28 for many years. Today I acquired the following five. My favorite is the 1896, but I really like them all. Even though there are distractions, I believe there are fewer than many others in the same grade.

@ricko - Do you have five of your coveted “Blast White” stickers available for these coins? As people on this forum know, I’m into stickers!

Steve

keyman64

Flashy stuff there!

divecchia

Steve,

Like yourself and @ricko I love blast white coins. Those are all beauties, and I would be proud to own any one of them.

Good luck with your set and thanks for sharing your progress.

Donato

DisneyFan

@winesteven said:

The first thing I learned is ... Morgan Dollars, even in relatively high grades, tend to exhibit a LOT more “distractions” (some hits, some luster breaks) in key areas of the obverse - the cheek, the neck, the rest of the face, and even in the fields ... with Morgan’s, it seems to be the nature of the beast. As such, I’ve been told to look for coins with fewer of those distractions.

With apologies to Q. David Bowers we now have
"The Expert's Guide to Collecting & Investing in Morgan Dollars: Secrets Of Success"

Shane6596

Dude, you went balls to the wall!!! I thought buying my 2 at once was gettin crazy...lol.

Awesome coins. Happy hunting.

ricko

@winesteven .... They are great Morgan dollars.... certainly deserve a BW sticker. Cheers, RickO

X Five....

lermish

Very nice as expected! But I also like toners, am I in trouble for looking and appreciating your newps?

Coin Finder

Nice, I had to put on my sunglasses!

Goober

Wowzer the ‘21 is definitely my favorite!

Shane6596

I see now what you mean by "distractions" i checked my morgans and same thing. Im learning. Ill look for less distractions in key areas on future morgans i add.

winesteven

@lermish said:
Very nice as expected! But I also like toners, am I in trouble for looking and appreciating your newps?

You’re not in trouble at all, lol. I just didn’t want the toner lovers to be disappointed if I had not provided the warning. Thanks for the appreciation. I can relate, as I like pretty colors too, even though I don’t buy them.

Thanks.

Steve

winesteven

@Shane6596 said:
I see now what you mean by "distractions" i checked my morgans and same thing. Im learning. Ill look for less distractions in key areas on future morgans i add.

My understanding is unless you’re looking at 67+’s and 68’s, you likely see them. My understanding too though, is in grades lower than I’m showing, you’ll see more, sometimes many more. It’s all relative. So even in a 64 or 65, just look at a LOT of coins, preferably in hand, and consider as ONE of your factors the amount and placement of “distractions”. If you’re too picky, you won’t buy anything. But separately, you also need to determine the kind of eye appeal YOU like. As I noted, most collectors prefer attractive toning. You also should consider luster (whether toned or not), and strike is a factor. YOU assign the “weights” of each of those factors in what is more important to you!

Steve

ifthevamzarockin

Nice coins and strong grades!

FlyingAl

Amazingly nice coins! You can see how closely they resemble each other so I expect you’ve put some time into selection!

nwcoast

Brilliant and gorgeous coins!
You’re off to a blazing start for sure!
Cheers!!!!!

lilolme

@winesteven said:

As I noted, most collectors prefer attractive toning.

Steve

.
Nice start.
When it comes to Morgans and collectors doing some type of set, I believe the majority like their Morgans mostly white. This opinion comes from collecting them and doing a set for years. Also one can look through the various registry sets and it is full of mostly white Morgans but then that is what the majority of them are. So I think you are in good company or the majority with a set of mostly white Morgans.

While none of the dates support having a CC when looking at grade versus $, maybe try to get one CC in the date set (1884?). The CC was the set that I decided to keep (oh and it is mostly white). I was (and maybe still am) a little bit of a CC-holic.

pcgscacgold

Wow, great start Steve. Looking at your coins reminds me of a visit to Shaun Bobbs offerings at Mike's Coin Chest site.

Best of luck as you continue your journey. I am sure the end result will be amazing (as all your other sets are as well).

winesteven

@FlyingAl said:
Amazingly nice coins! You can see how closely they resemble each other so I expect you’ve put some time into selection!

They resemble each other only because that’s the “look” that I want. Here’s the process that I followed that resulted in me buying these five coins in one day, just shortly after deciding to start this DATE set. However, as you’ll see, this was “low hanging fruit”. Going forward, finding coins I want will be many fewer and far between:

1. I made a list of the 28 dates in the set, crossing out the two dates I already had from my Type Sets.
2. I then went to the PCGS Price Guide, NOT to write down prices, but to determine for each of the remaining 26 dates which mint mark was the lowest cost in the highest grade within my budget. For example, for 1896, the coin minted in Philadelphia has a guide value of $1,600 in MS67. That’s within my budget, knowing PQ examples will likely go for somewhat more. The one from San Francisco in 67 is listed at $85,000, and the one from New Orleans in 67 is listed at a whopping $585,000, lol. So the one from Philly in 67 is the one I would look for in that date. For 1890, I had to cap the least expensive mint (San Francisco) at 66, since at that grade it’s listed at $2,500, but at 67 it jumps to $20,000, which is out of my league.
3. With my list in hand knowing which mint and grade to search for, I then went to collectorscorner.com. The great thing about the internet is that it’s open 24 hours a day! I used their filters, one date a time, to look at one time at the relatively current inventory of the hundred or so participating dealers. The result for a single search in the date, mint, grade I wanted (with “CAC” written in at the top) would typically result in only a small handful (maybe five or so) for each search. Each listing has photos right there on that initial screening without the need for any more clicks, so I could then easily see which coin(s) if any, had no toning and appeared lustrous. I would then click on it to see the photos in more detail.
4. After going through all 26 dates, I came up with the five coins shown above.

As noted above, this was the easy part. As time goes on, the “hunt” will result in fewer coins found over MUCH longer periods of time than just one day!

Steve

LeeBone

Quite a start!

[Deleted User]

Bravo!
Such wonderful coins.
This is a thread I will bookmark.
You have set the standard high for yourself and I don't blame you!

gumby1234

On Morgans blast white is a good look. I like nice toners on most coins thou

david3142

Looks like you are off to an excellent (and fast!) start. My favorite is probably the 1903, which looks like a 67 to me. The 90-S is hard to find as flashy and clean as yours.

winesteven

@david3142 said:
Looks like you are off to an excellent (and fast!) start. My favorite is probably the 1903, which looks like a 67 to me. The 90-S is hard to find as flashy and clean as yours.

Yes, a fast start. But as I noted above, this stage was a LOT easier than moving forward from this point. From here on in, it'll be a LOT slower.

Steve