MORGANS NO LONGER A REALITY.......

COINDOG

It Is Sad, But True : Morgans Have Gone The Way Of The American Bison ( Not The Buffalo 5 Cent Piece ).
There Are Only A Few Sets Completed In The Registry, And They Are Of Low Quality. ( Not Something That Pittman Or Norweb Would Want)
It Always Happens That Way, When A Particular Series Becomes Too Expensive, They Turn Into " Short Sets", Or " type" Sets, Or "type" Coins.
Most Dealers Advertise The Same 40 Coins For A Few Hundred Dollars, And The Average Collector Who Hasnt Done Their Homework
Assumes That They Can Buy The Rest For About The Same Amount Of Money.
I Sold All Of My Morgans ( except For A Few Key Dates ) While Prices Are High, And The Market Is Hot !!
The Same Is Fast Becoming True For " Walkers" And Mercury Dimes !!
Now You Know Why Fbl Franklins, Ike Dollars, And Full Step Jeffs Are So Popular !!!
The More Numismatics Changes, The More It Stays The Same !!
I don't Think That Most Of Us Mind, We Still Have Some Great Coins To Collect !!

COINDOG

When I Say That Morgan Dollars Have Gone The Way Of The
American Bison, I Mean That They Are No Longer Available,Or They
Have Become Too Expensive For The Average Collector To Buy.
However, If You Are Willing To Pay 2 Or 3 times What Most Are Worth, They Are Still Available !!!!!

tradedollarnut

Morgans are not for me. Too common. Too many have done them. Besides... how can you top Jack Lee? One of the most magnificent sets ever completed for any series.

earlwbollinger

Oooh. . .maybe a market adjustment will occur then i could afford to add to my set too.

PQpeace

To Top Jack Lee,
all I need is money...

To top California,all I need is money...

Most high quality top registry sets are a competition of who has the most money,not who has any more skill than someone else with less money..

When I enter a tennis tournament , it is skill which earns a win...not money..that is why sports is my favorite competition,not coin sets.

Just the facts,
Larry

tradedollarnut

Playing the Registry game is like playing poker. You need a stake to sit down at the table, for sure, but it's not all about money. It's about skill, strategy, opportunity and luck of the draw.

Those who think it's all about the money end up walking away from the table muttering to themselves after being beaten by a pair of deuces.

PQpeace

TDN..
Long time no talk
I knew you would be the one to answer quickley.

Just loan me the money,and I will put together the best registry set possible...other than trade dollars
I have everything it takes but the cash.
We can split all the profits when sold

DeepCoin

I think that Coindog is underestimating the average collector. You can see what it will take to complete a set just by looking at the various price sheets. Even if you only look at one of them, it will tell you about what a set will take to complete.

Anyone who spends a couple of hundred dollars without doing that little bit of research is not a collector, but a shopper. I see the big advertisers in Coin World who advertise the common dates. They also advertise proof sets and many other common coins.

Three years ago I made a conscious decision to collect No Bands Mercs becuase of the price differential. I cannot afford the FB coins in MS, but I can afford them in NB. Anyone who is putting four or five figures into a set should look at what they can afford as a matter of due diligence.

Steve27

" There Are Only A Few Sets Completed In The Registry, And They Are Of Low Quality. "

Maybe it's just that the best coins aren't in plastic.

LincolnCentMan

The top 20 sets have 99% completion or better. Morgans are probably the most popular serries collected... though one could make a pretty strong argument for Lincolns.

Highlights in the #20 set include
1878-CC 65
1879-CC 63
1881-CC 66
1889-CC 55
1893-CC 64

There are only two circulated ones in the whole set, the 84-S and 89-CC. He's missing the 93-S. If that's the #20 set, what do you define as low grade?

David

MoneyLA

All I want is one common date pcgs ms68. got one at a reasonable price? cheers, alan mendelson

CalGold

I think you are incorrectly assuming that the best sets are shown on the Registry. Frankly, the Registry is a joke in this series. Look at the DMPL/PL list. Anyone who owns a few common date DMPLs in 64-65 can have a top 10 set. It doesn't even take a great set to get into the top 20 in the regular long set--you can have lots of 63's in ordinary and semi-key dates. While such a set is nice you would be deluding yourself to believe it is one of the top sets in existance in this series.

CG

Edited to Add: If you focus on the top 5 sets or so and compare them to those that rank below you will see a big drop off in grade. Since this is one of the most popluar series to collect, you know that there are many high grade sets out there that are not on the Registry but will probably show up when the owner decides to sell.

LincolnCentMan

Look at the DMPL/PL list. Anyone who owns a few common date DMPLs in 64-65 can have a top 10 set. It doesn't even take a great set to get into the top 20 in the regular long set--you can have lots of 63's in ordinary and semi-key dates.

Well, no arguing there. You're right on the money on that one. I think the PL's are greatly undervalued on todays market. The better date dmpl's, particularly the CC's just keep going up. A friend of mine started back to collecting dmpl cc's about a year and a half a go. Man, he's done well. He didnt have any of his coins in the registry for the longest. He finally decided to go ahead and plug them in. I imaged them for him about a week ago. He may not have a top five set when he gets to completion, but he sure will have one sweet set.

David

Full Set
Just the CC's

TONEDDOLLARS

I do not ever hope to top Jack Lee. I do intend to put together a set of toned Morgans by date and mint that will still WOW ya!!! It will be a collection I'll be proud of and have just as much if not more eye appeal than most. I have pictures attached to my NGC set (toneddollars), the link has somehow disapeared from my posts. I'll need my son to come home from school to show me how to get it back

Typetone

I think Coindog is correct. It is simply not posible for most collectors to put together a really beautiful set of Morgans. Too many dates are just too expensive at even the MS64 level. I ran into that problem with Walkers when I started to get into the early dates. There were too many pieces I just could not afford in gem or better. I know you can buy most tough dates as nice circulated pieces, but those just don't look as nice as gem uncirculated pieces. So, I gave up and sold the later pieces I had (fortunately at a nice profit).

I am a type collector mostly and just finished the 39 piece basic, no gold design set. I spent I think $7,000 to buy an AU 50 bust dollar. While it's a nice piece for an AU, I simply does not compare to the gems or near gems in the rest of the set. I guess I can live with one piece like that, but I wouldn't want to work on a set where many of the pieces are not purchaseable (for me) in nice unc condition.

So, what sets are serious (but not rich) collectors able top complete in gem or near gem condition. Here are a few nice ones in my opinion.

Proof Barber dimes or quarters
Proof Seated dimes or quarters (with motto or legend)
Washington silver quarters (with a few 64s)
Mint state or cameo proof Franklins (but pick out a nice 53S in MS66 almost FBL)
20th century mint state or proof type
Peace dollars (with well selected 64s for a few of the tougher S dates)
Jefferson Nickels (this is a much better set than often thought of - especially look at nice toned pieces)
Mint state liberty nickels or 3c nickels.
Classic head or coronet head 1/2c in BN or RB. These are so incredibly cheap you want to cry.
IKE dollars. Even the 1972s are available in 65.
Standing liberty quarters (with non-FHs for the tougher FH dates)

MoneyLA

typetone-- the "market" is driving more collectors to be type collectors. There are few "sets" left to finish in better, high-ranking grades.

Ive given up the notion of trying to do sets anymore. I dont think I could reconstruct my proof washington set anymore -- not at today's prices. And I don't think I have a prayer of replacing the toned proof washingtons and toned morgans that I sold off over the past two years.

so give me some nice type coins... like a pcgs ms68 morgan... and I'll be a happy camper/collector.

cheers, alan

Typetone

Alan:

I'm looking for a nice mint state 20th Century Morgan in MS67. I would be happy finding one I could afford.

Greg

CalGold

In his Morgan and Peace Dollar book Wayne Miller commented that the cost of completing a set of Morgans was out of the reach of most collectors, so they were looking to acquire pieces of outstanding quality without the goal of building a complete set. That was more than 20 years ago!

CG

MoneyLA

Im sending you a pm. I have a nice one I want to sell so I can move up to a 68. cheers, alan

rgwill

I always read theses forums, but never reply. I would like to add that any set that you put together is great no matter what the grade. My set of morgans may be of poor quality to a lot of people, but to me i'm very proud. I love morgan dollars and some day i'll have a complete set. Sometimes when i buy a morgan it will set me back a month or two, but thats the excitment of collecting, isn't it.

COINDOG

Deep Coin,
I Don't Think That I Am Underestimating The Average Collector, Quite The Contrary !! About 4 Years Mr. Robert Campbell ( Then President Of The ANA) Wrote A Article About Collectors Coming Into His Shop.
He Said That They Spend Hundreds, Even Thousands Of Dollars
For Coins, But Not Spend a Few Dollars To For A Book On The Same Coins.
The Way To Collect That Would Make Most Collectors Happy Is First For Fun, And Second To Realize A Profit When They Sell Their Coins. I Have Not Yet Met A Collector That Said" I Want To Loose Money When I Sell My Collection"
The Way To Avoid This Is To Learn A LITTLE Bit About All Coins, And Then To Specialize In One Or Two Areas.
It's True That Jack Lee, And Others Had A Super Set. However, The Top Coins Now Have Been Scattered To The Winds, And Owned By Several Collectors.
You Don't Always Have To Be Super Wealthy To Put Together A
Fantastic Set, Pittman Wasn't Super Wealthy, But Had A Great Set.
What Is Required Is Knowledge, And Getting In On The Ground Floor, Before What You Are Collecting Goes Through The Roof !!!!!
In 1979-1980 Gold Hit $ 800.00 Per Ounce. That Was The Time To Sell, Not Buy Gold !
Buying A Rare Coin Is No Diffrent Than Buying A Common Stock.
The Only Way To Sell High, Is To Buy Low !!!
Now Is The Time To Buy Full Step Jeffs, Not Morgan Dollars !!
Most Dealers Still Have Them In Their Display Cases, Tagged For A
Fraction Of Their Value !!!!!!

dimples

Well stated rgwill. That is the true sense of a collector.

Welcome to the boards!