What would a collection of Morgan dollars cost?
FellintoOblivion
Posts: 280 ✭✭✭
Assuming I wanted to put together a collection of ungraded Morgan dollars consisting of the most common minting for each year (only need one from each year, not one from each mint, so 28 total coins) in condition similar to this:
does anyone have a ballpark figure as to price?
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Go to the PCGS price guide. $2000 to $7000 from say XF45 to MS60. Date set at top of page. Figure 70-85% of those numbers. A very presentable AU set could probably be bought in the $3K to $4K range. The tougher dates to get would be 1893, 94, 95 where the 95-0/S would be half the price of the set or more.
http://www.pcgs.com/prices/priceguidedetail.aspx?ms=3&pr=1&sp=1&c=744&title=morgan+dollar
Just be careful buying raw coins, and as others will tell you, educate yourself before jumping in. Have fun finding what you like, and don't settle as there are millions of them available.
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Yes. A messed up 1895 would pretty much kill your set....and wallet. That and the other several better dates would be worth finding slabbed. Then crack them out for your album. The top half dozen dates for this set need to be solid, problem free coins.
I'd try to stick to an exact grade on the 95-0/S so as not get caught paying a premium for a split grade that might be hard to recover. An 1895-0 in 45 or 53 looks to be best bang for buck on that date. The 1895-s doesn't have near the price spread between grades (45 looks optimum though anything from 45-55 seems reasonable). But as a date/mm, the 95-s is the more key date....a plus. Mintages are comparable. Pick wisely as this coin is your "set."
Yea I tried looking at that price guide before I posted but I couldn't make heads or tails of all the various acronyms and terms.
I'm confused about why an 1895 would be half the price of the set, this one on eBay is only $333:
ebay.com/itm/Hi-Grade-Rare-Date-PCGS-VF25-1895-O-U-S-Morgan-90-Silver-1-Dollar-Coin-FreeSp-/201949048491?hash=item2f0519eeab:g:qqsAAOSwcB5ZODHB
Be careful of counterfeits or some other reason?
That is an 1895 New Orleans Mint..... the 1895 Philly coin is proof only and can cost new truck money
edited to say really really nice truck with possibly a travel trailer behind it
Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,
this is an impaired coin.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1895-P-Old-Label-PCGS-PROOF-PR53-MORGAN-SILVER-DOLLAR-only-880-Minted-/272681142106?hash=item3f7d10075a:g:eNYAAOSwIaFZIe-n
Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,
RR was referring to the 1895 (P) which is a Proof Only issue and would require some deep pockets to obtain one of those.
http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/7330
How a Morgan Dollar Mint Set Collection (P,D,S,O and CC)? Only five coins and you could each decade with a different mint and would not break the bank...well, it could, but you could go for the common date/mm combos.
Just an example; (with PCGS Trends price values, which vary quite a bit)
1878-S ($90)
1884-CC ($220)
1898-O ($65)
1900 (P) ($65)
1921-D ($80)
Yes, beware of counterfeits, Morgan Dollars are extremely popular for fakes/replicas/copies.
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That and damaged, problem, cleaned, AT, especially the semi keys & keys, If there not graded there is usually a reason. Not saying you cant find some nicer raw stuff in the common dates. it just takes patients, and looking at a lot of coins.
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I think if you are going to collect Morgans, even by date, you have to accept having different grades. It doesn't make sense to me to spend an extra few thousand to upgrade the keys from VF to AU when you could upgrade the easy ones from AU to MS65 for $100-$150 each instead. My date/MM Morgan collection has coins ranging from VF25 to MS67. In fact, I have every grade in between except for AU50.
I don't care about mint marks, just want one coin from each year, whatever is cheapest.
I don't know what that means.
Grade?
Don't care. Whatever grade is similar to the coin in the picture.
PCGS has it as $1700.00 for XF40s and $2500.00 for AU50. That is the price for graded coins in holders so like mentioned above raw coins will be less than that. The coin you mentioned on Ebay has been cleaned and so what everybody is trying to warn you about is that come the day that you or your grand kids go to sell this true coin collectors will avoid these like the plague.
The eBay coin isn't bad, although you can find better. Not to sidetrack this, but I have a duplicate VF30 1895-O in a PCGS holder, so you can PM me about that.
Before a reasonably serious undertaking such as a Morgan date set you should learn a bit more about grading, the series, and be a bit more receptive to comments, rather than this:
"Don't care. Whatever grade is similar to the coin in the picture."
The coin in your post looks like a nice AU coin. If you look up Complete Set - Date for Morgan Dollars in the PCGS price guide you will get your answer. It is the first line. It show the value of the set in Extra Fine (XF40) to be $1,698, or in Almost Uncirculated (AU55) it is $4,220.
If it was me, I would buy the AU coins except for the 1894-O and 1895-O. These two are $350 and $2,500 in AU55. In XF they list for $140 and $500. If you have patience you can find them in XF45 for about $225 and $650 and nice ones will look like AU coins and will fit nicely in that set. Every other year has one mint that will sell for around $30 to $35.
So if you can get the other 26 dates for around $32 each, that makes 26 x $32 = $832 plus the $225 and $650 for a total of $1,707 for a very attractive set and I believe this would be very doable.
Hope this helps.
1893 is expensive too. An 1893 will run around $280 for an AU50.
I'm repeating myself, but I just can't see being happy with the majority of coins in AU or low MS, when nice MS coins are easily available. Wouldn't you rather own 23 MS63-MS65 coins and 5 VF-AU coins than 28 AU coins?
For example, here's the 81-S in my Dansco. This coin cost $25 when I bought it 14 years ago and is still only about $65 now:
Everyone of us has started with one series and graduated to another. Often more than once.
I suggest you go slowly, control the impulse to spend more than you planned, and allow your collecting interest to evolve.
Perhaps in a year or two you will discover the joy in collecting a completely different series...when your knowledge has grown and your tastes developed.
At that time you will be glad you didn't go whole hog on a newby infatuation and can gracefully (and painlessly) move on.
Lance.
Wouldn't you rather own 23 MS63-MS65 coins and 5 VF-AU coins than 28 AU coins?
I have no idea what the visual difference between those coins look like. It would depend entirely on how I felt about the way a MS63 looks compared to a AU coin in person.
Thanks, that was very helpful indeed.
The comment I was responding to was "Grade?" I don't know how I'm supposed to be more "receptive" to that when I literally don't care about the grade beyond it being around whatever the grade the coin I linked to is.
Pass. Sorry, I guess I'm not particularly receptive to your offer.
My comment on the 1895 (P, S, or O) being 1/2 the price of the entire set was based on your requirement for the coins to be similar in quality to the 1878-s pictured in the original post. That coin is AU58/60 or better. A 95-0 or 95-s in AU53/55/58 costs thousands. If you're willing to accept a VF coin then everything changes....especially the price. So you really don't want coins that are similar to that 1878-s. I never really considered a proof 1895 as that would be an odd ball in a business strike set...and more expensive than the O and S mints.
Well the one I linked to in the eBay listing is similar "enough" for me so apparently I'm fine with anything between VF and AU
Are you saying it would be better to find a coin that was already graded then take it out of the slab versus finding one that wasn't graded?
Wouldn't the fact that it was graded make it more expensive than a coin in similar condition that wasn't graded?
Almost always...though with some exceptions. If the pops are high enough, a premium for a slabbed circ 95-0/95-s might not be all that much higher vs. a decent raw one. Feel free to buy it raw if you are certain you can identify fakes, alterations, cleaned/AT/altered surface coins. You always have the option to buy a slightly damaged/cleaned coin in a genuine/details holder at a big discount to a nice one...then crack it out to place in your album. I doubt that slab brings much of a premium.
Paying a premium for a nice slabbed example would probably be returned to you upon resale...assuming you keep it in the holder. Your cost to get it reholdered/regraded once cracked out would be approx $30-$40. Some people could live with an album with an empty hole (slabbed 1895 is kept elsewhere)...others wouldn't here of such heresy. With approx 6000 circs of the 95-0, and 3000 of the 95-s (VF to AU), those could be pretty available. Consider that since slabbed examples do bring a premium (just like with an 09sVDB) that suggests the majority of raw VF-AU coins remaining out there raw might not capable of earning a straight grade.
If your view of the 78-s coin above was that VF25 vs. AU58 looks similar to you.....then I'd suggest you do go with a slabbed example of the 1895 date. As far as the common dates go, half or more of your set will be heavily influenced on the going rate of silver. Hard to say if AU Morgans or MS64 Morgans will do better over the next decade. I currently like the "value" in selected MS64's at around $45-$55 per coin. The lowest those have been in the past 20 yrs is $38-$42/coin seen back around 2002-2003 with silver at $4-$5/oz....MS65's were $74-$76 back then.
Thanks for the in depth explanation.
I'm certain I couldn't identify a fake unless it was particularly egregious. My desire to get them raw was mainly because 1) I thought they would be a good deal cheaper even for very common dates/mint marks and 2) I don't particularly care for coins in slabs. I didn't realize counterfeiting was such an issue.
Is straight grade simply the opposite of split grade?
I wouldn't say those coins look similar, I can see that the VF has noticeable wear to the portions of higher relief than the AU does as well as more damage to the field, it's just that I personally wouldn't mind having them both in my set based on an AU example of the 95 being an extra $1000.
When you can tell that this coin is fake, you might have enough knowledge to purchase raw coins off Ebay.
Otherwise hang around here and begin your education
https://aliexpress.com/item/1895-Morgan-Dollar/755412647.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.25.EbN4mB&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10151_10068_10130_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_10110_10178_10136_10137_519_10111_10060_10112_10113_10155_10062_10114_437_10154_10056_10055_10054_10182_10059_303_100031_10099_10078_10079_10103_10073_10102_10096_10123_10189_10052_10053_10142_10107_142_10050_10051,searchweb201603_1,ppcSwitch_5&btsid=3f34ee14-6778-48d8-8396-dbf44f582c6a&algo_expid=56d718d3-a33c-4355-b3ba-3ed6c917766f-3&algo_pvid=56d718d3-a33c-4355-b3ba-3ed6c917766f
Oh, eBay is the last place I would buy raw coins.
Minus a 1903 (still waiting to come across a PL example that I like) it cost me $4300.00 all in for this set and it took me just over a year to get it to this point.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/alltimeset/143783
Nice, thanks for sharing.
How come they don't all have pictures? I'm not familiar with how the registry works.
Straight graded is the terminology for having a standard TPG numerical grade assigned (not being gigged as a problem coin).
Split grade is something everyone else does except the TPG's. TPG's assign a single grade that represents the summation of both sides.
No grade is when they gig the coin as having problems and don't assign a numerical grade of 1-70. Those are call AU "details" or "genuine" holders. The coin is real, just not problem-free enough to earn a number grade.
When determining what a coin is worth, many of us will try to break down the obv and rev grades if it helps bring a stronger price. Consider a PCGS MS65 Morgan with a very strong 65 obv and a solid 66 reverse. It's still netted out as a 65.
I'm not great with pictures as in I don't have a set up to take them where they look good, although I would love to. I didn't take any of the ones I uploaded. I snagged them from the listings of the coins after I bought them.
Please reread the advice you are getting. If you must by raw dollars, go to your local coin shop or that coin show you wrote about, " Junk dollars", which really are not junk, in VF+to XF/AU are going for about $32 each your pick. You should be able to fill a lot of holes in a dollar album while you learn a few things and decide what to collect. Hopefully silver will go up and you'll even make a small profit.
As you can see from the foregoing, what you thought would be a relatively simple project, has many complexities. I do understand what you want to do... and if that is what you want, go for it... certainly achievable for a modest cost. Most of the above advice is coming from experienced and very knowledgeable numismatists. Therefore, they understand pitfalls and dangers that lurk in the coin arena. Also, they see technicalities that new collectors would not even consider. I suggest you proceed along the lines recommended, and with your objective in mind. Yes, you may make a mistake or two... we all have... however, if you are interested in coin collecting, it will be fun and an engrossing hobby. Let us know how you proceed. Cheers, RickO