16 years into numismatics...
Coinstartled
Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭
The 1893-S Morgan in MS64 looks way too similar to the 1887 Morgan of the same grade to justify the $216,940 price difference.
As a kid I collected Matchbox cars. The Coronation Coach looked way different than the Iso Grifo, and the price spreads were a lot narrower.
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Comments
Times change.
I feel the same way about cars.
The $150 'junk' car has the same
metal case, same four rubber wheels,
same engine type the makes it run,
the same amount of windows, the
same gas and brake pedals, and so on.
Hard time justifying $300,000 for the same
basic item, right? They're both 'similar'.
That's why I came to be primarily a type and token and medal collector. Too many coins in a date and mint collection look the same. I have put together some sets, like the Types I and II gold dollars and the Classic Head $2.50 and $5.00 gold coins. Those pieces had a historical attraction for me, especially since the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints were involved.
I've tried to do just a date set of Morgan Dollars a couple of times and lost interest. The coins have an interesting political history, but but once I finished the major 1878 varieties and an all mints set, I was done. When I put those sets together, it didn't cost much.
I hear you. I'm nearly done with my Walker set, (2 coins to go...), but don't think I'll start a similar set right away.
Maybe that's why something like the Classic Commems type set will always have an attraction to some collectors. They each look DIFFERENT, but still fit into a "set" mentality.
Lately, I've been considering some lower grade, common type, colonials for the same reason. Variety, but still with a theme....
In the 1970's, when I was in the Numismatic Dept. at the Smithsonian, the curator told me the same thing. He said that a complete collection of Morgan dollars would hold a non-collectors interest for only a flash. He told me if he could do it all over, he would assemble a Type Set. Non-collectors would appreciate hearing the stories that go along with the odd denominations.
That is exactly why I collect by type, too. I also enjoy the variety that foreign coins and toned coins provide!
That's one of the reasons I ventured over to the dark side. I collect English coins now, lots of monarchs to choose from, many changes in coinage (pre-decimal, decimal, etc). Variety all over the place, and fairly inexpensively for coins older than the US.
The high grade 93-S is that seafoam green Opel from the late 60s...the 87 is the Double Decker Bus. Just trying to put this into perspective for ya! Lol
I collect US by type (95% done now) and foreign in short sets...and no Morgans.
Sometimes I snatch a Key Date, but I like to collect every coin in a series by date and mint.
I do understand the premise of the Type Set, though. To the non collector, the different coins are definitely more interesting.
Pete
Reminds me of a major auction house president who told the story of a man who put together a very high-end Morgan date and mint mark set. We're talking Millions. He showed it to his father and his father said 'big deal....they all look the same'. This jaded the man and in a month later the coins were back on the block.
I always thought that was an ignorant comment by a simpleton who has no idea the amount of work and resources....both time and money....that go into putting together a high-end set.
Besides having a different date and mint mark, each coin is unique in its own way due to striking, luster, color and design element changes throughout the years by the mint.
I can certainly appreciate a date and mint mark set and I feel that each individual coin is unique, beautiful and rare in many different ways.
That man was foolish to let his father influence him like that and I would never sell something, so quickly, that I love so much. JMHO.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Yes and Yes.......the different beautiful coins are more interesting
It's the fine differences that float my boat. 1801 Draped Bust Large Cents are not rare. And the S-223 die variety is common. But a fine example of an 1801 DBLC S-223 in die state VI is hard to come by and greatly valued by a few of us.
Smitten with DBLCs.
Just a bulk investor at stuff close to melt. Some numismatic coins up to $300 but big ticket lol lots of risk, people coming into bourse room can’t afford them.
A nice gem 81-S dollar as bright and shiny...
The future of collecting lies in finding microscopic minor varieties of common coins!
It's all about the different numbers and letters on the coins that makes the difference!
The past is gone. How many times over the years have I heard " I wish I would have kept ..."
Not just in numismatics.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Most family members have no interest in your collection whatsoever. A few years ago, my brother-in-law, who might be managing my estate some day, made a rare visit to the house. I brought out my 1848 CAL. $2.50 to show him and go over the history of the piece. Before I could get a word out of my mouth he was on my back as why I would have the piece out of my safe deposit box. I hadn’t even told him what it was worth.
I never got to the history or any other aspect of the coin. You would think he might want to know some of that stuff before he approached an auction house to sell the collection. But, no, all he could think about was the safe deposit box.
That is why Wills are important. The here and now mentality dominates. With a Will, at least, there will be something written on what the departed wants done with their Estate.
I recently closed the Estate of a family member as the Estate Administrator.... .... ....
For clarity:
Estate Executor = There is a Will
Estate Administrator = No Will
Cost is a large factor for most people when collecting coins or cars....and the price difference in any field of collecting depends on condition and rarity. If one does not understand those issues, than that particular area of collecting is probably not one to be involved with. I pursued sets years ago, now I just buy what interests me with no particular plan in mind. Really fun this way... at least for me.
Cheers, RickO
Wills and trusts are only pieces of paper that leave instructions about how things are to be done after death. Their effectiveness depends upon the executors and trustees who will run them. I have both a will and a trust. The trick to find honest and responsible people to administer to them.
Very true.
IMO the best of both worlds in US coins for interest and rate of return would be a type set using only the key dates fro every type in the finest grade you could afford. Believing this fifty years ago was the only way to go, I never did it. LOL, I wished to have FUN with a large collection of neat coins, tokens cherrypicks, and stuff rather than buying one coin a year!
If you do lowballs the price gap narrows a lot!
bob
Insider...that is assuming that the future is like the past. 1794 Specimen dollar was a $1000 coin in 1948. It has appreciated ten thousand fold in a lifetime of an older man. Can it not revert to a much lower value (say $1mm) for the current or next owner.
Similarly the Newman/Green pedigree coins had the benefit of including prices paid several decades ago. I bought a proof half dime for $1500 that cost Newman $15. Fortunately I bailed at close to cost before a 40% drop occurred. That is not a series key, but the fact that coins may well be grossly inflated in price should not be ignored.
@BillJones I'd love to see that 1848 CAL!
My YouTube Channel
Sometimes the "Old Man" that raised you and lived a full Life can see clearly and can tell you things from an unbiased position. It's like the Father was the young boy from the " Emporors New Clothes" story written by , whoever that was. The Guy was suddenly exposed after seeing the New Clothes he had paid a fortune for , were perhaps never there after all. Plenty of " Magical Tailors" are out there. They will sell you the finest of anything if you are willing to pay them a good amount of money.
Cryptocurencies are the best Suit any Tailor has ever come up with.
Hans Christian Anderson.
Wrote alot of good stories if only people actually “understood” instead of just thinking of them as “fairy” tales.
I have a registry set of Morgans and one big reason I am drawn to toned coins (even original-looking, non-rainbow ones) is that it gives each one a different look. The greysheet set is 105 coins so variety is definitely needed! I love how special each one can be, and when you add PL and DMPL coins to the mix you can spice things up further. Here are two 1879-S coins in about the same state of preservation that look absolutely nothing alike:
Yeah, but my RX350 is really, really comfy and with the lane assist and radar cruise, it'll drive itself.
Buy the best you can appreciate (and afford).
To me, a car is just a tool to be used. I have never bought a new car as IMO/ it is a huge waste of money. Muscle Cars do nothing for me. I own a 4x4 because I need a 4x4 and use it as a tool. I did just buy a like new use one with only 38K miles so I kinda bought a new car but with a $27 K discount
Building a car from a pile of parts on a trailer is very satisfying. I guess some do "build" their own coins, but most seem to frown on that.
capped bust half dimes by die marriage and remarriage, that's what more people should do
A secret I learned from a smart lady leads me to think the answer is to have a personal PROFESSIONAL FIDUCIARY.
A fiduciary is told the details of what you want and insures that the heirs follow your wishes.
Which I suppose could also be corrupted, but at least it's another level.
Watch out for listing your stuff. I had a lawyer ask me to build the WORST Morgan set possible back in the 1970s.
I don't know for sure, but I surmise that a client had instructed him as to who would get the
"Complete set of Morgan dollars."
Just guessing but it's all that makes any sense.
CUD you elaborate?
I use to think the same way. However, as I became more specialized I became more appreciative of collecting by date. For instance, with Liberty quarter eagles it is a long run and some may say all the coins look the same. However, I appreciate that some dates simply do not come up often with natural color, others almost never have a good strike, some dates do not come attractive very often, etc. At the end of the day, I would rather have many of these dates that are hard to find attractive in MS 61 than a 1905 in MS-67,