Finally finished my 1895-S Morgan circulated grading set (4 photos added to 1st post)
DennisH
Posts: 14,009 ✭✭✭✭✭
Took a drive to Orange County this afternoon and picked up a small batch of crossovers at PCGS... mainly because of one very humble coin that allowed me to complete a set that started out oh-so innocently and very naively:
A complete set of circulated Morgans... in every grade including Poor-01... all graded by PCGS... and all dated 1895-S. The coin I picked up today was the last one needed for the set, a Good-04.
Despite being pretty much ready, willing and able to buy coins when I found them, it was an undertaking that nonetheless required -- drum roll please -- 4 years and 5 months to complete.
It began on the heels of finishing a complete Morgan set with a grade average of 64, and was started for the express purpose of learning a lot more about how PCGS grades circulated Morgans, which I seldom even looked at while building my MS set. I chose 1895-S because it is a meaningful coin in every grade, yet one I could still afford in AU58.
It was a process that taught me much, much more than I ever imagined when I started. Among these nuggets were:
1. Forget the pop report, 1895-S in circulated grades in PCGS holders are not often for sale out there. When they are, they go fast.
2. PCGS grades circulated Morgans differently than everyone else.
3. The amount of overgraded crap on eBay is staggering beyond belief.
4. Grey Sheet is meaningless when it involves 1895-S Morgans in PCGS holders.
5. Cracking out coins to send in raw takes guts... but when you finally start it's a sign you've really begun to learn.
6. Unless you've tried to build a grading set, you can't possibly imagine how hard a Poor-01 is to find.
Along the way I acquired about 30 coins in all (there are only 19 different grades in the set), about half of which were bought raw (due to item #1 above). I think I bought only three coins already in PCGS holders, and the rest were crossovers/crackouts. I had 'problems' with coins grading higher than I wanted, and many lower, but I never had anything bodybag. I finally learned that if I needed to fill a specific hole by crossing a coin, I had to buy it one notch higher in someone else's holder.
Fortunately, my decision to build a set of 1895-S coins makes me appear to have been brilliant (ha!), due to gains in the coin market during these 53 months. For example, I bought my AU58 from Heritage's inventory for just $1,080. They'd probably want $2,500+ today. I think I'm now safe to tell my wife what I paid for some of them!
A new VAM discovery (VAM 1A; reverse die crack from the rim through the D in dollar and into the mint mark) was made in my set by a good VAM friend, and for some odd reason I acquired several examples of the scarce VAM 3 (S/S). The VAM 4 (S/horizontal S) is supposed to be easier, but I only picked up two.
This was an enormously educational and seriously challenging set to put together, made even tougher by the date I chose. (My second choice was 1893-CC.) I would strongly encourage anyone who wants to learn a LOT about how PCGS grades circulated Morgans, to consider building a set of their own. You'll pull your hair out at times and it won't be easy, but it's an achievement you will savor.
Posting images of the coins is going to take a while. Here are the first four; more to follow.
PO01
FA02
AG03
G04
A complete set of circulated Morgans... in every grade including Poor-01... all graded by PCGS... and all dated 1895-S. The coin I picked up today was the last one needed for the set, a Good-04.
Despite being pretty much ready, willing and able to buy coins when I found them, it was an undertaking that nonetheless required -- drum roll please -- 4 years and 5 months to complete.
It began on the heels of finishing a complete Morgan set with a grade average of 64, and was started for the express purpose of learning a lot more about how PCGS grades circulated Morgans, which I seldom even looked at while building my MS set. I chose 1895-S because it is a meaningful coin in every grade, yet one I could still afford in AU58.
It was a process that taught me much, much more than I ever imagined when I started. Among these nuggets were:
1. Forget the pop report, 1895-S in circulated grades in PCGS holders are not often for sale out there. When they are, they go fast.
2. PCGS grades circulated Morgans differently than everyone else.
3. The amount of overgraded crap on eBay is staggering beyond belief.
4. Grey Sheet is meaningless when it involves 1895-S Morgans in PCGS holders.
5. Cracking out coins to send in raw takes guts... but when you finally start it's a sign you've really begun to learn.
6. Unless you've tried to build a grading set, you can't possibly imagine how hard a Poor-01 is to find.
Along the way I acquired about 30 coins in all (there are only 19 different grades in the set), about half of which were bought raw (due to item #1 above). I think I bought only three coins already in PCGS holders, and the rest were crossovers/crackouts. I had 'problems' with coins grading higher than I wanted, and many lower, but I never had anything bodybag. I finally learned that if I needed to fill a specific hole by crossing a coin, I had to buy it one notch higher in someone else's holder.
Fortunately, my decision to build a set of 1895-S coins makes me appear to have been brilliant (ha!), due to gains in the coin market during these 53 months. For example, I bought my AU58 from Heritage's inventory for just $1,080. They'd probably want $2,500+ today. I think I'm now safe to tell my wife what I paid for some of them!
A new VAM discovery (VAM 1A; reverse die crack from the rim through the D in dollar and into the mint mark) was made in my set by a good VAM friend, and for some odd reason I acquired several examples of the scarce VAM 3 (S/S). The VAM 4 (S/horizontal S) is supposed to be easier, but I only picked up two.
This was an enormously educational and seriously challenging set to put together, made even tougher by the date I chose. (My second choice was 1893-CC.) I would strongly encourage anyone who wants to learn a LOT about how PCGS grades circulated Morgans, to consider building a set of their own. You'll pull your hair out at times and it won't be easy, but it's an achievement you will savor.
Posting images of the coins is going to take a while. Here are the first four; more to follow.
PO01
FA02
AG03
G04
When in doubt, don't.
0
Comments
Glad to have been able to help out
<< <i> For example, I bought my AU58 from Heritage's inventory for just $1,080. They'd probably want $2,500+ today. I think I'm now safe to tell my wife what I paid for some of them! >>
Got mine from Heritage also, but paid a little more than you did
P.S. -- BAJJERFAN's AU58 looks nicer than mine!
I did the same thing once with the 1921 High Relief Peace $1, all grades PO01 to MS65. The G4-VF20 coins were the hardest - like you, I kept getting coins either 1 grade too high, or one grade too low. Fortunately, it only took about 1 year to assemble the set.....unfortunately, it didn't appreciate the way your '95S coins did <grin>
Get the 21D slabbed?
If I had it my way, stupidity would be painful!
<< <i>Try the 1893-S next. >>
IMHO that would be a fair amount easier since 99.999% of the 9,000 or so in existence are circulated. If one has the fund$ its a matter of watchin eBay till the right one shows up.
<< <i>P.S. -- BAJJERFAN's AU58 looks nicer than mine! >>
But your au53 is nicer than mine Dennis.
I have been inspired to attempt that feat within my series, Barber dimes.
I'm leaning toward a raw set with an emphasis on eye appeal. What a
wonderful challenge.
Thanks, Steve.
******
<< <i>That's because the AU53 ought to be an AU55. (I tried once!) >>
At least it crossed
2. PCGS grades circulated Morgans differently than everyone else.
Apparently so!
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