Building coin set in regards to weight ratings

Darkeller · August 18, 2025 8:35AM

Building a Morgan set, but confused on the weighted rating of certain coins. for example, an 1893-O is rated 8. These coins are very common up to AU, but not common and much more expensive in MS. Should I go for an MS, or stick with a lesser priced coin--especially if just having the coin is a big boost to the overall set rating. I'm wondering if it makes more sense to buy the lesser coin, and save money to buy a better 10-weight-rated coin. I've done the 'what if' many times, and I find that increasing the quality of a coin doesn't affect rating all that much in many cases. Any suggestions on building a high scoring set greatly appreciated.

winesteven · August 19, 2025 3:07AM

I have many high ranked sets.

My strong suggestion when starting a set is to first look at the costs of each slot in various grades, and then get a sense of your comfort level (financially) separately for each slot. Rather than focusing on rank, focus on that comfort level. Whatever rank you then end up with, should be fine. You’ll have fun!
With what YOU have in mind, I have chosen for many of my sets to do a DATE Set, including Morgan Dollars! With a DATE set, for each slot (year), YOU get to choose which mint to use. The advantage is, you have many fewer coins, a less expensive mint to fill each slot, you can then avoid the expensive key coins with no penalty (since the weightings are based on the more common mint for each date), and that allows you to afford higher graded coins for each slot! To some collectors, higher graded Morgan Dollars with their very high luster are visually more attractive than more expensive coins in lower grades with very little luster. Below is a hotlink for my Morgan Dollar DATE set - only 28 coins are required!
Focus on coins where YOU like the eye appeal, even if it’s in a lower grade than your goal for that slot! For my 50 coin Classic Silver Commem Type Set, I’ve been searching for six years to upgrade my Gettysburg and Lynchburg coins from 66 to 67. I’ve looked at many hundreds graded 67 by PCGS, each with a CAC sticker, priced fairly, but I’ve passed on every one since none are nicer (yet) than the ones in my set!

Here’s my Morgan Dollar DATE set:

https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/dollars/morgan-dollars-major-sets/morgan-dollars-date-set-circulation-strikes-1878-1921/publishedset/324559

I hope you found this helpful.

Steve

Darkeller · August 19, 2025 4:50AM

Steve,
Your sets are awesome! I appreciate your advice. My funds are limited. My coin collecting started very late in life. I started picking up bullion and found I enjoyed the numismatic aspect much more enjoyable. In the last couple years I've been able to put together a Franklin Half (ranked 31), Two-Cent Piece (ranked 27), Barber quarter (ranked 10) and Morgan sets (Like you, these are date sets). For no apparent or wise reason, I decided to expand my Morgan set into a full 97 coin set. Trying to keep all coins MS, a few AU, and for the top 3 or 4 coins I'll have to go VF or XF at best. Still 33 coins to go. I'll likely be retiring next year, at which point the collecting will likely have to stop as I'll be on a very fixed income. I have a 7070 ready to go, but my guess is that will never happen. Perhaps at some point, to keep active in collecting, I'll liquidate a few sets and focus on upgrading just one set using those funds. It is quite addicting.

winesteven · August 19, 2025 5:07AM

Thanks for your kind words. You’re doing well, and having fun!

Happy Hunting!

Steve

lilolme · August 23, 2025 5:52PM

@Darkeller said:
Building a Morgan set, but confused on the weighted rating of certain coins. for example, an 1893-O is rated 8. These coins are very common up to AU, but not common and much more expensive in MS. Should I go for an MS, or stick with a lesser priced coin--especially if just having the coin is a big boost to the overall set rating. I'm wondering if it makes more sense to buy the lesser coin, and save money to buy a better 10-weight-rated coin. I've done the 'what if' many times, and I find that increasing the quality of a coin doesn't affect rating all that much in many cases. Any suggestions on building a high scoring set greatly appreciated.

.
I hope I am interpreting your question correctly. Here is how the set rating works (in general as I am not going to list them all ). I will use the Morgan Date set as it is one you mentioned.

The Weight is multiplied by the Grade to get the amount of Points for a particular coin.
So an 1893 O (for date set it can be a P mint, O, CC or S) in say AU50 that has a Weight of 5 would get 50 X 5 = 250 Points.

The set rating is determined by adding up all of the date Points (1878 through 1921) and then dividing by the Divisor (which is the sum of all the Weights) and is shown on the Set Composition page at the bottom as Divisor 56.

Changing or upgrading the 1893 slot to say MS62 (from AU50) would yield 62 X 5 = 310 Points (Grade X Weight).
This is an increase of 310 Points - 250 Points = 60 Points
These additional 60 Points would increase your set rating by the 60 Points divided by the Divisor 56 or 60 / 56 = 1.0714

Another look at it - If your initial set rating was 60.000 it would have 3360 Points. Upgrading the 1893 from 50 to 62 would add 60 Points for a total of 3360 + 60 = 3420 Points with a new set rating of 3420 / 56 = 61.0714.

The above was going from an AU50 to MS62. But going from a MS61 to a MS62 would only yield 5 additional Points since the change was from 61 to 62 or 1 Grade X 5 Weight = 5 Points.
Set rating then would only go up by 5 Points / 56 Divisor = 0.0893
With a Divisor of 56 each set Point increase the Set rating by 1 / 56 = 0.01786

So adding a missing date often will give the largest increase since it is going from 0 Points to the new grade. Once again, is dependent also on the Weight.

So focusing on upgrading circulated grades with more Grade number differences will increase the set rating more. But still a need to focus on the Weight also.

There is a 'What If ?' when logged in that will do the changes for you. When logged in go to one of your sets. Under the Items In Set Composite section there is a What If ?. Click it and it takes you to page where you can change the Grade on the coins in your set and it calculates the new set rating. Click on the Grade and select the new Grade for the pulldown menu. It will also do the PL DMPL for the proof like sets with PL bonuses.

Then throw in the change in price or cost to determine the $ (dollars) per Point increase to maximize $ efficiency.

The above is all the technical aspects of set math. But as noted by Winesteven collect what you like.

Darkeller · August 23, 2025 7:25PM

Wow....thanks SO MUCH for that explanation. It helps me a great deal. I had no idea how the weighted rating worked. I'm on a budget, and sometimes the difference between a 63 to 64 is huge--seems like a coin with a weight of 4 or 5 wouldn't merit that huge increase in cost for my purposes. I'm just looking for decent coins I can afford, yet still get a decent rating (my competitive nature). I try not to buy the slab--especially since I've found some gorgeous AU that to my eye have better appeal than a 61 or 62. Thanks again!

TomB · August 24, 2025 7:26PM

Might I suggest simply to buy the coins you like in the grades you like and can afford in such a manner as to give you enjoyment? Do not buy for "the Registry" simply to feed "the Registry". That is a sure-fire way to lose money, lose enjoyment and walk away from numismatics entirely. Good luck!

Darkeller · August 25, 2025 6:07AM

I appreciate your comments. I'm not sure the risk of 'losing money' is relevant in the discussion, unless the goal is to 'make money'. Very few hobbies provide a source of income or profit, and of course the quickest way to become disillusioned is to turn it into a business. Present company excluded, of course.
I have limited funds for any interests I wish to pursue. While I understand the distain many people have for registries, for me they do provide an opportunity to compete AND to share my collection with others--and I enjoy seeing their collection too. I've established some fun online relationships where we leapfrog in rankings and discuss the new coins and the how, where, when of obtaining them.
If I ask most collectors to see their favorite coins, I imagine I will get myriad stories as to why certain coins have special meaning to them. But, almost with exception, at some point they will show me their rarest, most valuable coin--even though the collector may have little sentiment for the coin itself. If I ask to see an example of a date of which they have several, their MS67 will appear, not their MS63. It's human nature.
I will never own the best example of any particular issue that I enjoy, but it is some source of pride to have a top 25 ranked set. This is because I built it as time, availablity and resources allowed--while also learning about numismatics and trying my best to obtain the finest example of a particular grade.
Some collectors enjoy making the biggest financial splash at the auction. Others (many, it seems) enjoy the 'steal of a deal', paying much less for a coin than it's value regardless of ethics. I enjoy the history first, appeal second (Walking Liberty my favorite), and the inconsequential registry sets we are able to participate in online.

Building coin set in regards to weight ratings

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