So the General Public Thinks Silver Dollars are Rare??

halfcentman

They don't call me "digit head" for nothing.

Proof sets, Mints Sets, Wheat Cents, and Silver Dollars. What do they have in common? They are at the top of the list at what the general public overvalues. It's funny, but when I just bought a 1964 Quarter for $5.00 from someone who works in my bank, they were flabbergasted. When I offered him $x on a pre-21 Morgan Dollar that was common to the point where I was making $2.00, he scoffed at it.

So that got me to thinking. I got out a RB and added up all of the mintages for Morgan and Peace Dollars sans proofs:

847,433,378

Having in inane ability to remember lots of numbers, this now rolls off of my tongue in a very polite fashion whenever the question arises. The customers are always given and "and up" price and told that there are better dates to which I would more than happy to pay a premium, but just because they are old and you do not see too many of them in your neck of the woods doesn't make them rare.

Take care,

Greg

EagleEye

Gee it's been a while since I found a 1921 Morgan Dollar in circulation. Must be rare!

commoncents05

But they are 100 years old! Anyone who knows anything knows there is a direct correlation between age and value

-Paul

greghansen

A persons anecdotal experiences always factor into what they subjectively believe to be 'rare', especially the older we get. The longer we live and don't see something, the more likely we are to consider it a rarity.

At the risk of breaching political correctness, I would point out that in the rural area of Kansas that I grew up in my first 18 years, I would have considered an African American person 'rare' because I never saw one in any of my schools or any where else I went in town for 18 years.

Now that I live in Florida and periodically have business which takes me to Miami, my anecdotal experience tells me that English speaking AM radio stations in Miami are 'rare' because there are only 1 or 2 on the entire dial.

vann

I don't know if the public agrees with them but I know a lot of eBay sellers sure seem to think what they are selling is ¡RARE L@@K!

WTCG

Coins are the exception although common sense says that the older something is the rarer it should be. The idea holds true with almost everything else. After all, time is arguably the ultimate enemy of preservation.

With that being said, most silver dollars are over 100 years old and many more are in uncirculated/ mint condition. Harddly anything else that old, whether it be furniture, books or people etc., come in mint condition.

Also by American standards anything over 100 years old is considered old. Europeans, Middle Easterners and Asians probably have food in their kitchens older than that.

RichieURich

Not only silver dollars, but the general public believes that Bicentennial dollars, halves, and quarters, $2 bills, and dateless Buffalo nickels, are rare ("you just don't see them") to which I respond "100 million people saving them is why you don't see them."

dragon

<<< So that got me to thinking. I got out a RB and added up all of the mintages for Morgan and Peace Dollars sans proofs:

847,433,378 >>>





Due to mass melting and attrition there are no where near that many in existence today.

Russ

The general public thinks that anything old is rare. It isn't just coins.

Russ, NCNE

halfcentman

<< <i><<< So that got me to thinking. I got out a RB and added up all of the mintages for Morgan and Peace Dollars sans proofs:

847,433,378 >>>





Due to mass melting and attrition there are no where near that many in existence today. >>



I am well aware of that, but when someone thinks that their solid AG 1921 Morgan that's buffed to a high gloss is worth $50 because it's "rare," they need to gently and respectively informed and corrected.

dragon

<<< I am well aware of that, but when someone thinks that their solid AG 1921 Morgan that's buffed to a high gloss is worth $50 because it's "rare," they need to gently and respectively informed and corrected. >>>



Yes I agree, although it's sometimes difficult to convince some people.

DennisH

Government mass meltings during World War I, in 1921 for the resumption of the Morgan series for one year, and again in World War II (including the Manhattan Project) deleted roughly half of the "all that were ever made" count. Add to that the millions melted privately as silver prices have periodically spiked over the ensuring years and the number gets much smaller. In his epic "Silver Dollar Encyclopedia", Q. David Bowers estimated the total surviving population of Morgans at between 100 and 200 million. But the book was published in 1993, so those estimates would no doubt be lower today. Granted, the number of Morgans left is still pretty considerable, but in the context of collector demand and the "cool!" reaction most non-collectors have to them, I think demand and interest for them is at least equal to even a nine-figure population.

elmeister

<< <i>The general public thinks that anything old is rare. It isn't just coins. >>



I collect, fish, and build bamboo fly rods... my experiences indicate that most people think that ALL vintage bamboo rods are valuable... sure a few many be worth a bit, but they're few and far between... vast majority of old, beat up rods are worth a couple bucks tops (usually for components)... i've disappointed many people thinking they found something valuable...

alot of people forget that even in the "good old days" they still made crappy stuff.

greghansen

alot of people forget that even in the "good old days" they still made crappy stuff.

No doubt!

RWB

Silver dollars were not melted for the Manhattan Project. All loaned and Lend-Lease silver came from bullion stocks + a few million mutilated and badly worn silver dollars.

ambro51

...and they get rarer every day since every day many of the surviving ones are melted.

I would wager if all the surviving morgan and peace dollars were gathered together and redistributed to American Citizens, only one in four could own one. Does that fit the definition of rarity?

fastfreddie

To top it off many from the General public have never even heard of Liberty Seated coinage either and many other type either!

If we compare just seated quarters...

Lets see...109 date/mint varieties, roughly 155 million minted in which 17 date/mintmark combinations make up over 80% of the total mintage over a 53 year span (ten years longer than Morgan's). That equates to the remainder of the 92 date/minmark combos have an average mintage of something like 300k each less, of course attrition and melting. Many of these dates circulated at a time when collecting was still in its infancy.

Wonder what they'd call this...

BillJones

Silver dollars look because they are old, big and non-current. There are also ads placed by hucksters that say they ARE rare.

I won’t disparage the general public. They don’t know much about history and even less about coins. If they want to listen, I’ll educate them, but as we have seen here, even among collectors, there are many who won’t listen to reason or the facts until they have been burned. And even then they are more apt to attack the messenger and not the person who screwed them.

DennisH

<< <i>Silver dollars were not melted for the Manhattan Project. All loaned and Lend-Lease silver came from bullion stocks + a few million mutilated and badly worn silver dollars. >>

RWB: I'm interested in learning more about your statement that dollars were not melted for the Manhattan Project. Can you point me at some sources of more information?

rld14

PCGS has slabbed over 2 million and I am sure that NGC has slabbed a smiliar number...

RichieURich

<< <i>

<< <i>The general public thinks that anything old is rare. It isn't just coins. >>



I collect, fish, and build bamboo fly rods... my experiences indicate that most people think that ALL vintage bamboo rods are valuable... sure a few many be worth a bit, but they're few and far between... vast majority of old, beat up rods are worth a couple bucks tops (usually for components)... i've disappointed many people thinking they found something valuable...

alot of people forget that even in the "good old days" they still made crappy stuff. >>



Post Of The Day candidate, especially for the last line!

ProofArtworkonCircs

<<<< Silver dollars were not melted for the Manhattan Project. All loaned and Lend-Lease silver came from bullion stocks + a few million mutilated and badly worn silver dollars. >>

RWB: I'm interested in learning more about your statement that dollars were not melted for the Manhattan Project. Can you point me at some sources of more information? >>

Silver dollar shrinkage for fiscal years, WW II period

1940 549
1941 369
1942 186
1943 8,081,301
1944 44,658,438
1945 394,999
1946 362,275

I don't know where they went, but that was a melting of almost 53 million in just the two years of 1943-1944.
These numbers were derived from the 1949 World Almanac which was quoting the Treasury's "Stock of Money" numbers.

ricko

BillJones hit the nail on the head. People just HATE to be told they do not have a valuable coin. Most will not believe it. I know of a gentleman that has what appears to be an aluminum cent... of a year in which (according to experts) there were none minted/known or experimented with (check my old posts). He REFUSES to accept that it is not a fantastically valuable coin, no matter who tells him. He firmly believes everyone is trying to rip him off.
Cheers, RickO

fastfreddie

<< <i>BillJones hit the nail on the head. People just HATE to be told they do not have a valuable coin. Most will not believe it. I know of a gentleman that has what appears to be an aluminum cent... of a year in which (according to experts) there were none minted/known or experimented with (check my old posts). He REFUSES to accept that it is not a fantastically valuable coin, no matter who tells him. He firmly believes everyone is trying to rip him off.
Cheers, RickO >>



Probably because he was told it was rare when he purchased (got ripped off)! That's why so many think what they have is rare, too many people have told to them and/or sold to them for their hard earned money that what they are buying is 'rare'. Many just can't resist when they hear the "Coin sellers Gosphel" and refuse to accept reality when someone brings it too their attention.