Unopened GSA - To open or not to open

jmcu12

I am getting an itch to open an Unopened-GSA that GSAguy sold me. Should I 'itch' that 'scratch'?

oreville

jmcu12: Take a cold shower and control yourself!

Keep it unopened. Someday you will appreciate it even more.

gsaguy

Oreville speaks with wisdom.....listen to him grasshopper.

GSAGUY

Steve27

Here, by date, is a list of the total number of GSA Black Box CC Morgans which were available for sale back in the 70s (numbers include both circ and unc):

Year Total
1878-CC 60,993
1879-CC 4,123
1880-CC 131,529
1881-CC 147,485
1882-CC 605,029
1883-CC 755,518
1884-CC 962,638
1885-CC 148,285
1889-CC 1
1890-CC 3,949
1891-CC 5,687
1892-CC 1
1893-CC 1

Based on the above info, I would be willing to bet that you have an 1882/3/4 coin, probably worth 1/3 of what you paid for that sealed box. Additionally, the fact that it was not opened by the original owner, tells me again that it's a common date. I suggest that you throw it on ebay ASAP and get rid of it. One more point, the original owner received an invoice from the mint telling him what was in the box, so don't think just because it's never been opened, that it's random as to what's inside.

hamiltonjh

Keep it, and keep it in the holder.

Ultimately, up to you. I wouldn't crack it.

Dennis88

Keep it in the holder and sent it do NGC.

Dennis

Placid

1889-CC 1
1890-CC 3,949
1891-CC 5,687
1892-CC 1
1893-CC 1


Have these all been found?

Stuart

jmcu12: Put it away somewhere safe where you'll forget about it, and take out an opened GSA Morgan to play with to help forget about the unopened box.

Look at it this way.. The odds are that if you open it you'll be disappointed to find out that it's probably an 1882-CC, 1883-CC or 1884-CC.

If you keep it unopened, then you can imagine that it's possibly one of the scarcer issues. And that may be worth keeping it unopened...

Placid

So this is about value and box collecting? Hehe if you wanted a morgan why not just buy one?

MadMarty

Don't open it!!! The last one I opened from that GSAGuy bum had a 1971-S Ike in it!!!

Stuart

I bet that made you MadMarty!!

MadMarty

No, glued it back together and sold it to Cammy!

dorkkarl

when in doubt, crack it out

you can live by those words!

K S

Trooper

I say leave it alone...
I have the same dilema myself and the urge to opened passed after I put it in the saftey deposit box for about 6 months.


But then again...If you do rip it open, i'm sure we'd all like to see..
Tom

XpipedreamR

I don't understand having coins you can't look at. I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's not coin collecting...I can't relate.

Stuart

XpipedreamR: There are at least 3 reasons why one would purchase an unopened GSA Morgan in a box:

1) To have the thrill of opening it (if you so desire) and the (speculative) excitement of finding out which date it is

2) To flip the unopened pkg to someone else at a profit, or to hold it long-term for the same intent

3) To keep the unopened boxed coin just for the pride and thrill of ownership -- and the mystique of not knowing what's really inside the box.

LanLord

Have a lottery, sell spots on a sheet for 30 bucks a spot. Winner gets the coin

The guess needs to be correct on:

1 - Date
2 - Any VAM number
3 - Grade (we should have someone impartial and honest grade it - although where you gonna find that around here?) (the person grading it can't participate in lottery)
4 - White vs Obv toned only vs Rev toned only vs dual sided tone

This should give you enough spots to sell to recoup your outlay for the coin and the winner gets something cool.

toners

I have one from GSAGUY also, its tempting, but I will keep it unopened, I think about opening it once a week though, then I slap myself up side the head and say Hell no you aint either.
Allen

oreville

Steve27: I beg to differ. In the early 1970's I ordered some of those GSA silver dollars in the original sale in those "box of five." I did NOT get an invoice or any other indication as to what was in the boxes. It was pure "pot luck" back then.

Indeed, I had opened 4 of the five I had bought (I seem to remember the purchase price as $30 each) and 2 of them were 1882-CC, another 1883-CC and the last one was an 1891-CC. By the way, these were the uncirculated ones I had purchased. The "non" uncirculated one, I seem to remember sold for $15 each.

Incidentally, I still have that last one, unopened. I wished I had saved the entire box of five, the box and all the literature.

There is nothing more numismatic than the topic of unopened GSA boxes of silver dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XpipedreamR

I guess I can appreciate that, Stuart.



Hopefully someday I will be able to afford coins that I can't see

Stuart

<< <i>Hopefully someday I will be able to afford coins that I can't see >>

Steve27

Oreville,

I have the original invoice, which includes the date, the bid price, and the price paid, for the seven I have. Your memory is just faulty.

BigAl

what if it's an ultra cameo dmpl?

someday someone will open it....may as well be you. don't wait till your deathbed though, if it is a udm give yourself some time to enjoy it.

Stuart

BigAl: I don't disagree with you, which I guess means that I agree with you .

However, I feel that it depends on the original reason why jmcu12 decided to purchase the unopened GSA Boxed Morgan.

gsaguy

<<One more point, the original owner received an invoice from the mint telling him what was in the box, so don't think just because it's never been opened, that it's random as to what's inside. >>

Steve27,

I agree with the fact that the chances are the coins are common-date and in butt-ugly condition and that's what I tell every buyer of these coins who ask my opinion.

But I do believe that Oreville is also correct when it comes to the $15.00 category or Mixed CC category. These coins, which included all dates in the hoard and the three dates represented by one example each, were all placed in 'silver dollar' hardpacks. They were then sold randomly, so once packaged, no one knew what dates were inside and the outer boxes were not date-stamped.

GSAGUY

Cherwood

OK........question. What the heck does GSA stand for?

Cheryl

gsaguy

General Services Administration......a government body which has many responsibilities, one of which is to sell off used government property.

GSAGUY

Stuart

GSA is also the first 3 letters of a well-respected toned CC Morgan Dollar dealer/collector who participates on this forum using the pseudonym GSAGUY pictured wearing coonskin hair

Cherwood

So the GSA sells these silver dollars in holders where you can't see the coin and don't know what date you are getting? Kinda like a grab bag? Hmmmm.........

Cheryl

dollardude

<< General Services Administration......a government body which has many responsibilities, one of which is to sell off used government property. >>

Hey, good answer GSAguy!

BTW, NGC will slab these "in place" so that the original government packaging stays intact (great idea that PCGS did not adopt).

In my last job, the GSA would pay us some friendly (I say sarchastically) visits to audit or report on our Army program. They are also a watchdog for the government. So, I am intimately familiar with these guys.

gsaguy

No Cheryl.....most of the coins were sold by date. But there were three categories that were basically grab-bag.

These would have been as follows:

Mixed CC: Originally sold at $15.00 each and represented by all dates. These coins were either heavily bagmarked or 'tarnished'. The GSA admitted that they were likely uncirculated but didn't meet their miniumum standards for that category.

Mixed Year: These were sold for a minimum bid of $5.00 each and represented mintmarks other than CC coins. Again, they were not sold by specific dates, were sold in the GSA hardpacks and were for the most part uncirculated. I have seen a few that were damaged and would not grade unc by today's standard.

Mixed Circulated: These coins were sold in the GSA softpacks for a minimum bid of $3.00 each. Most were circulated but many were not. They include examples from all mints of the time, including the CC mint.

All GSA coins were shipped in some type of protective outer container. Most were opened upon receipt. But, like mint sets of recent times, many were never opened by the recipient.

These are the coins we're discussing today.

GSAGUY

Cherwood

Thanks for the explanation - I'm a newbie.

But I don't think I could stand not opening them.....it would drive me crazy!

Cheryl

gsaguy

My pleasure Cheryl, I'm filled with worthless knowledge about the GSA sale............and other things too.

GSAGUY

mgoodm3

Open it. Why buy a coin if you can't look at it. If you want it as an investment, then great, leave it unopened.

Kriek

<< <i>What the heck does GSA stand for? >>

The General Services Administration (GSA) was responsible for sorting and marketing the U.S. Treasury's hoard of silver dollars, after the Treasury ceased issuing dollar coins in 1964. In a series of sales lasting from 1973 to 1980, this hoard of several million silver dollars, mostly Morgan dollars minted at the Carson City Mint, was dispersed via auction and fixed prices. Sealed in rigid plastic holders and boxed with a message from then President Richard M. Nixon, these silver coins account for most of the Mint State Carson City Mint Morgan dollars known today.

oreville

Steve27: I believe that the GSA had two major sales of the original hardbacks. The first (or the second one, I can't remember) was by date and with a bid price just as you state. Thenthere was a major furor over the poor sales of the uncirculated silver dollars that were at the time, in excess of the market price that they had to do the sale again. I believe that one of the sales had a flat price whether uncirculated or not and that it was a lottery system. What I cannot remember is which one.

Sure my memory is faulty. But faulty in the strangest ways and oddly I seem to remember all this useless information.

Does anyone have any of the original sales literature?

it would be fun to pull them out.

oreville

Steve27:

Trooper just sent me copies of the original GSA order form and I was correct. Thanks Trooper!!!

I believe this was the second go-around on these GSA sales.

Strangely enough one of the packages was callled POTLUCK! I had not used or seen that word in over 30 years!!!!

The ordering period was June 1 to July 30, 1973.

The wording in quotes iis right from their sales brochure.

"THE POTLUCK!" for $5 allowed purchases of "Uncirculated Morgan and Peace Dollars-mixed coins from various mints excluding Carson City. Packaged in a durable plastic case."

"THE SILVER BONANZA! So little could buy so much history famous 90% silver cartwheels made from silver mined from the Comstock Lode. Each is packaged in an attractive presdentation case. SELECTION #3 Carson City Silver Dollars (mixed 1879-85, 1990 & 1891) never before circulated by U.S. Government, culled out of the Government's holdings of silver dollars since they did not meet the standards for "uncirculated " due to nicks and tarnish. Minimum bid $15 per coin."

Wolf359

What mgood3 said. I would have opened that sucker 30 seconds after I got it.

Golfpro

From what I have read, all key dates are printed on the cardboard. If no date on box it is 1882-1884 cc

may

I’m waiting to see that skeleton @Manifest_Destiny

TomB

I wonder if @jmcu12 had twenty-years worth of patience?

jacrispies

@Golfpro said:
From what I have read, all key dates are printed on the cardboard. If no date on box it is 1882-1884 cc

I am sure the OP had his question answered 20 years ago.

SoCalBigMark

I see dead people.

rte592

20 years ago they Sweated open a small corner of the package, used a bore scope to do the reveal and were probably disappointed 😔

Onastone

@jacrispies said:

@Golfpro said:
From what I have read, all key dates are printed on the cardboard. If no date on box it is 1882-1884 cc

I am sure the OP had his question answered 20 years ago.

But wouldn't he have let us know what was inside if he opened it??? @jmcu12 DID YOU OPEN IT YET???

jmlanzaf

@Golfpro said:
From what I have read, all key dates are printed on the cardboard. If no date on box it is 1882-1884 cc

The dates were printed on the shipping label not the box itself for all dates. So if the label is gone or damaged, the dead guy you're talking to wouldn't know what was in the box.

Manifest_Destiny

JimTyler

How many here were still in diapers when this thread was started.

GotTheBug

This comment is not intended to disparage anything or anybody. Sometimes I think that we are participating in a very, very strange hobby. That being said I sure do love it

tokenpro

It sounds as if the OP had a Schrödinger's CCat situation.

ifthevamzarockin

@jmlanzaf said:
the dead guy you're talking to wouldn't know what was in the box.

@jmcu12 was last active on Sep 7, 2023