Your first Morgan dollar- what was it? And do you still have it?

lclugza

And I would like you to give me the story about it, if you do not mind.

K6AZ

My first Morgan was a 79-S that the dealer had listed as BU, would probably grade 62 today. I bought it for $7.50 in 1977. It met its end in 1980 along with all the other lower MS common Morgans I had, since they were paying $28 for any silver dollar.

morganbarber

I've told this story many times on this forum, but I (for one) never tire of it. My family had a set of old wooden blocks that children play with. They were in an antique wooden ammunition box. At the age of four or so, I overturned that box, and in the bottom was an 1880O Morgan. It was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. It was probably in at least AU55 at the time, but as the prized possession of a four, five, six. etc. year old, it is, today an ugly XF. I will never upgrade that coin, and, if silver went to $5000 an ounce, I would not sell it. That coin is the needle which infected me with the virus which forces me to return to this forum.

BigD5

1880-O Morgan I purchased off a bid board when I was 15(?). It was the prize coin in my collection for quite a while. Graded ms/62 when all was said and done. I rode my bike to the coin ship every day after I placed my mind boggling $65 bid. I think the owner of the shop made things go my way, so that i would end up with the coin. I'll never know for sure, but it seemed that way. It was my first "major" coin purchase.
Still have it. Tucked away.

topstuf

Grampaw died in 1951. He had 600+ Morgans in a trunk. Grandma tried to take em to the bank. Bank refused em cuz Grampaw had rolled em in 25's and they wud only take 20's.

Soooooooooo.....we go home to wrap em in 20 rolls. Grandma told my cousin and I that we could each have 10. So, expert kids that we were, we glommed all the 1878 and 1879's we could find.

Groooan. I still wonder how many mid 90's or cc's there might have been. Oh well.

She also gave cuz an me each 3 indian head cents. I did save those. One was a 1908s. I dutifully cleaned it about monthly with dry baking soda. (Reader's Digest said to) I musta scrubbed that sucker 50 times. I still have the coin. It has retoned now. It grades a sharp XF. Wonder what it was when I started.

Live N Learn

paigowjohnny

An "UNC" 1900-O I won in a coin club raffle as a teenager in the mid 70's. It developed some nice golden rim toning over the years.

but


as I look at it now, I've got a feeling it's been whizzed. Still...over the years that coin gnawed at me to start collecting again and going for Morgans, so it has some sentimental value, as I'm now about 10 coins away from completing the set.

Striker

My first one was 1886. I saved up paper route money and went to buy my first silver dollar. It was the 1886 that caught my eye (it was 1986 and I thought it was cool to have a coin that was 100 years old). I still have it and just recently started working on a Dansco 7070 type set album, it is sitting in that album as we speak.

hookedoncoins

My first morgan dollar was a 1900-O in PCGS MS62 (old holder). I bought this coin before I even knew what PCGS was (I actually tried to remove it from the slab when I bought it). I bought this coin as well as a group of other coins on ebay with the idea of selling them combined as a (20th century type) set; however, I couldn't part with any of the coins. I couldn't believe how much then set me back at the time, a whole $100. I ended up including the coin in a swap on this board after I replaced it with an 1899-O PCGS MS63, which I have further upgraded to a MS65.

-Jarrett Roberts

nwcs

My first was an 1881 EF Morgan I bought in 1988. I cannot remember how much I paid. I think $15 or so. But, hey, I was only 15 and didn't know how to buy coins well.

Still got it, because who would want to by it? No sentiment for it, though.

MrKelso

In the early 60's Poppee gave me my first beautiful Silver Dollar and believe me it was untouched and Mint State back then.
Since then it has gone through years of handling and being in my pocket, More recently it has been in the toilet and in the tub with my 7 year old grandson but it is still here with us.

Take a look


Poppee left me a whole Mint bag of these Gems, I have not gone over them for 20 years until recently when an accident left me home in bed i rediscovered the bag and this forum.

BillJones

MY first Morgan dollar was a 1921-D that a lady gave me for my eight birthday in 1957. It was proably VF-EF or so. I had it until I was in my teens.

Tassa

My first was an 1879 S (about MS62). I don't have an interesting story about it, though. It was the first time I had ever been into a coin shop (only four years ago). I didn't know a thing about coins, I just thought I'd buy it since it was pretty, old, and affordable. Unfortunately, I don't have it any more. I sold it.

RYK

Believe it or not, my first Morgan was a key 1895-O. It was given to me along with other coins from my father's boyhood collection when I was about 10 years old (1975). The bad news is that it was holed and worn (VGish). Later in my teens, when I needed money for dumb things that teenagers do, I sold it for melt value. I have kept all of the other coins form my father's collection including a tarnished (that's what we called it back then-1926 Peace Dollar) that I scrubbed with baking soda. It's very nostalgic to think about it all...

gsaguy

Good post lclugza!

I don't recall my first Morgan, but I do still own my first GSA CC dollar. It's that coin that got me interested in the GSA sale.

I was at a small show in New Orleans (1985) and had been collecting all sorts of 'stuff'. However, I knew I wasn't focused and didn't like the feeling. At that show, a dealer from my hometown showed up with a super nice 85-CC in a GSA holder. I loved the coin and traded him a PCGS MS64 Connecticut commem for the piece.

At a show back home the following weekend, dealers Kenny Duncan and Wayne Hummel both saw the coin and both said, "how much?" Well, I didn't want to sell the coin and both of them chased me all over the floor wanting to buy the piece. Wayne subsequently called me during the week trying to buy the piece. He later confided it was the best one he'd ever seen and would probably grade MS65. Now remember, that was back in 1985.

I then knew I had a super nice piece and began trying to learn about the GSA sale. Few dealers seemed to know much about it so I set about learning all I could.

Today I'd say the coin has a good shot at MS67. I've since added better 85-CC's to my collection, but that piece will be the last one to go.

GSAGUY

lordmarcovan

I got a small handful all at the same time on my twelfth birthday, December 28, 1977, so it was an eight- or ten-way tie for my "first" Morgan dollar. The source of this hoard was my paternal grandmother, who gave me a box of coins she said she'd found in her mother's (my great-grandmother's) desk a long time ago. (My great-grandmother died a few years before I was born, so I never met her.) The box also contained an 1857 Seated Liberty half and some Franklin halves.

Anyway, my favorite Morgan in the mix was an 1878-S, which was around AU58, but prooflike, possibly even DMPL. I kept it for 22 years. In my college years, I sold off all but three coins in my collection to buy textbooks. I set the hobby aside from about 1984 to 1990. There were three coins I swore I'd never sell: a VG 1936 Mercury dime (the coin that started me collecting as a kid- I still have it), an EF45 1827 Bust half (I will pass it on to an heir in 2027, when it's 200 years old and I will have held it for 50 years), and that pretty 1878-S Morgan. (I passed it on to a nephew at his birth in 1999).

pmh1nic

My first Morgan and I still have it:

09sVDB

A 1878P in vf that I got for "free" in 1978 when I joined the Silver Dollars Collectors Club. Yes, I still have it.

CarlWohlforth

When I was seven or so my Dad came home with a Morgan for me. I don't remember the date. He got one for buying records at a store in New York City. I guess that was when the Gov't released their hoard in the 60s. It was in great shape. I sold it with my othe coins when I was in college.

MrEureka

Interesting. I started very young. I don't remember my first coin, much less my first Morgan. It seems to me that the things I remember best are the things I looked for, not so much the things I got. I remember needing a 21 & 28 Peace dollar to complete a set. I remember going to a coin show with the intention of buying a nice 16 half and a nice Columbian half. (I never found the 16. I'd be a fish for the right 66 today.) I don't have a single coin from my first 20 years of collecting, and I miss none of them. But the ones I own now I love!

semicycler

1902-O.

My grandmother is Italian. Every Sunday, we drove the 45 mins to Grandma's house for Sunday dinner at 2:00 - hard to call it dinner but it did have multiple courses with breaks between to get your second wind. My grandfather would give us proof sets and raw coins in 2x2's every holiday and most Sundays. Most of what grandpa gave us was moderate to low value. Long story short - my grandparents have passed away, we lost the majority of the coins to a burglary years ago, and now I have nothing of any real value left from my grandfather except for the memories and the 1902-O in a 2x2.

When my son was born, thoughts of a legacy ran through my head. This got me thinking of grandpa and his coins, which in turn made me realize I had the coin bug as well. The only coin I still had from Grandpa was a 1902-O. It was the first coin I submitted to PCGS. It came back MS64 - about a $20 coin on the market, but priceless to me, and yes I still have it.

edited: Boy do I make a lot of spelling mistakes when surfing and drinking Merlot!

DennisH

I lost my virginity to an 1881-O MS64 NGC that was very clean and had a tremendous strike. Paid $125 for it in mid-1994.

By late-1995 I decided that big, sparkly silver coins looked much better in clear plastic holders than in white plastic holders. So I had a dealer friend crack her out and ship it off to PCGS. Four weeks later when it came back as a 63 (I suspect because of only ho-hum lustre) I dumped it for $30.

That was pretty much when I decided to buy only PCGS graded coins, and I've been happy ever since. I do waver every now and then when rare VAMs are involved, but experiences like having an NGC XF40 come back in a PCGS-25 holder has a way of getting my focus back on track for a while.

Coulport

Hate to admit it but silver dollars were actually in circulation in my youth up to the time I got married.
Don't really remember which dollar was the first but figured that oldest was best to save.
Kept two 1879-S dollars that grade G. Still have them.

boz

My first Morgan was an 1881-S. I paid $43.00 for it and couldn't believe I paid that much for $1. I now own over $25,000.00 in Morgan CC's and still am in amazement.

satootoko

As a young lawyer many years ago, I had an associate who practiced criminal law. One of his clients gave him $60 in silver toward a fee, and he offered them to me for face value. That's how rolls of '84O, '86 and '87 made their way into my collection. Those 60 are all the Morgans I own, and I'l probably be selling most of them to buy more early Japanese silver and gold . (Unfortunately, only a few are tarnished or I could make a real killing and move to Easy Street.)

TommyB

Back in the late 60's, my grandfather gave me an 1889 O Morgan that was pretty well worn. 1889 was his birth year. I still have it, and will never get rid of it. Will give it to my son. My grandfather was the greatest guy.

coinrookie

1885 O that my grandmother put aside for me the day I was born. Some 44 years ago. Got one Morgan and one peace every b-day for the next 6 years untill she died. All are still raw but probably xf to almost au. Unless there was a serious situation these coins are going nowhere. I have alot of other coins that in terms of monetary value that are greater but not near as valuable.

Lakesammman

I was 9....1964....could still get them easily in change in Montana, where my Dad often travelled. Have no idea what the date was. I promptly spent it for some Cracker Jacks at a Twins ballgame at the old Met stadium. I still have the same interest in Morgans.

DoubleDime

My first Morgan was also a 1900-O (XF) that I acquired in Aug.'72. To earn the Boy Scout Coin Collecting Merit Badge I had borrowed a coin from an aunt but of course wanted one of my own. I still have this coin, I have 35 Morgans in my collection.

smprfi

No special tear jerking story here.I got an 1879-S PCGS MS-64.I liked the way it looked and bought it.I still have it.

Draco

All five of the morgans I have came from my Grandfathers collection. They aren't in great condition and reside in flips. I've never purchased a morgan because I just don't really like them. It seems that whenever I go coin searching on ebay, I have to wade thru a few hundred morgans. I use two different types of searches and both of them contain a "-morgan" just to weed them out. I am, however, looking for a few examples in original GSA holders. I'll probably buy two or three and they will be the only morgans in my collection that I've purchased.

lclugza

My first was a VF 1921 that I got from my uncle along with 3 Peace dollars. I noticed the Morgan design was different from the Peace and wanted to learn more about it. That's what got me started collecting. I still have that Morgan.

BAJJERFAN

My first Morgan was a 1885 purchased raw on the Excite auctions 4 or 5 years ago. Forget what I paid but it was only a tad too much. I still have the coin but it is now in a PCGS slab as a 63.

oreville

Time line...Thanksgiving 1959. My grandfather give my cousins and me bright beautiful uncirculated 878-S silvers. I was 6 years old. I do not remember where I put it.

Next timeline....Sometime near the mid 1960's....I waited on line with my father at the New York Federal Reserve with $100 in silver certificates. I got 100 really nice Morgans but did not get any CC's. One of them was the famed 1903-O!!! I saved them until I sold them in 1980 for $5000 and kept one of the coins, a DMPL silver dollar.

Final timeline...my grandfather at age 88 in 1986 gave me his 1921 silver dollar as his father gave him that silver dollar upon his engagement to my grandmother. He died at 90 two years later. He graduated from the City College of New York just a few years before. A combat veteran of WWI. My grandfather was also the center of the CCNY basketball team even though he was only 6 feet tall which was quite tall in those days. My grandfather was so poor he had to work nights AND days to help support his family. My granfather knew I always liked the number 21 most of all and he saved that dollar in his later years just for me. Now, I was NOT going to misplace that last special coin!!!