Are these worth Grading?
Twopence
Posts: 4 ✭
Helping a relative. Her dad left her "Library of Coins: Liberty Head Silver Dollars" all 3 books covering 1878-1921. Book 1 is completely filled. Out of all 3 books only 10 coins are missing. From what I understand of grading I think most of the coins will come in between 35 and 53 (based on the examples I see on-line). Trying to figure out if the cost to have them graded is going to be a worthwhile return on investment. Tried to attach a photo of one of the pages (which I think covers both the best and worst of the collection). If you think a better image would be more useful I can pull a single coin out of the book and take a picture. If there are a few particular coins in that series I should focus on that information would also be helpful. I do see some websites that offer on-line grading by taking pictures and then make a recommendation if it's worth sending in for grading - are any of those worth the cost for pre-screening the coins?
Thanks;
Comments
If all of the coins are within this grade range, they don't need to be graded unless there are key dates (1889-CC, 1893-S, etc.)
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make a list of all the ####-CC coins and post it. also post if you have a 1893-S
the mintage numbers are under the dates of the coins. you look at the mintages and you'll see why we're asking
the "take a photo" grading apps are junk
It would only be cost effective if they plan to sell.
Professionally grade the ones over a certain value with your estimated grade. Buyers have a certain value they feel comfortable buying raw (depending on the series and their experience with the series). Don't clean any of them. I would consider it for anything worth over $300.
https://www.pcgs.com/photograde
https://www.pcgs.com/photograde#/Morgan/Grades
the high AU grades vs. the MS grades can be rough because you have to know what subtle wear signs for the au coins are
You state these grade 35-53 but the 1879-CC shown looks to grade around VG-10 so I don't know how dialed in the grading is. It can also be tricky to spot cleaned coins.
If you're going to sell these soon, I'd pick maybe 8 coins that you think look nice and would economically justify the grading fees, send them in, and see what happens.
if the op ovvr graded a coin, and some coins are much too common to send in with average grades, then i wouldn't say "choose..."
let's focus on the CC and 93-S first
cleanings will affect value, and photogrde doesn't help with that.
we can cover the big CC 93-S first
You may not like this response but you appear to need significant grading help, but don't have quality images, which to me suggests the best course of action might simply be to take the collection to a local dealer or two and ask if they will tell you what coins might do best for certification and why. You will likely have to pay for this service, but you pay for services from experts everyday.
Good luck.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I have had these sets of Morgan Dollars for many years. The coins in them, with one exception, the 1885-CC, have never been worth the grading fees. Given the current cost of grading, that coin is worth enough to merrit the grading fees. The old standard used to be $200. Now it's more like $400 to $500.
@Twopence .
Almost all of the coins on that page appear readily sellable in those conditions without the need for the expense of slabbing which would be unlikely to pay for itself.
One possible exception might be the 1878 7 Feathers which appears to be a decent Uncirculated coin, but cannot tell for certain from that pic. Even if nice it still might not be nice enough to be worth sending in.
Can you take photos of just that coin showing both sides with various angles of lighting?
Also posting the other pages here would get some starting advice on whether there are others that might be worth slabbing or not.
I don't think there is a need to pay anyone yet for advice until posting more photos here first.
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Ok, got out the macro lens and pulled the 1878 7 feather, 1882-CC, and 1885-CC out from behind the plastic. Hope all the pics come through. Thanks for all the advice.
I'd consider grading the 85CC, but the 82CC is fine raw.
Of the OP nine coins, I would certify zero of them. As to the CCs, here again, I would not bother to get them certified -- those can rather easily be sold for "full value" without the added cost of certification at lower UNC levels.
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
How about this 1904-O. Seems to be about the nicest coin in the books.
No. Would have to be 65 or better to be worth it and it doesn't appear to be. Grading is expensive and unless it adds significant value is not cost effective. The exception to this is if you simply want to slab it for personal reasons. In that case, $45 to slab a $5 coin is okay.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Just for the OP's benefit, I think you mean the 79-CC
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
You are correct. Thank you. Edited original post.
Definitely not on the 1904-O - $75 coin plus $40 to slab gets you up to a $100 coin which is not a good deal. (Using made-up numbers but you get the idea.)
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
OP - just for fun, share page photos of the album!
none of those coins are "$5" coins !!
the 85cc might can go. a coin shop can submit them for you
any other CC, even if unattractive??
I'm pretty sure when @jmlanzaf said "$5" coins, he was talking in generalities, not specifically about Morgan dollars.
You could try Great Collections for their grade and sell program, I'd opt for Anacs probably. I'm not seeing any better vams but you never know.
I like em the way they are now.
Yes. 99% of the people understood the point. Thank you.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I think that would cost the OP a significant amount of money on all but a couple of the coins.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
If you don't know any of those three numbers, then the only questions that really matter to you are "How do I know how much my coin is worth" and "How do I know what it costs to get a coin graded" and you should ask THOSE questions -- and make sure you understand the answers -- before going any further.
As a none collector you are at a knowledge disadvantage when it comes time to sell. The value of getting a coin graded puts a value on an example to start the selling process. You are not going to go wrong on getting the CC dates and any coins with value over $300 graded. Do not clean any coins in the set. When posting coin photos, best to orientate the coin upright as shown below.
I would send the CC coins to ANACS for authentication and grading. $20/coin + shipping for 15 day service.
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It would be better to look through the group, see if there are any potential better grades or higher value coins and use the Anacs special: https://anacs.com/specials/ Then they could be listed on eBay by someone with a store.
I've been collecting for 30 years (seriously with certified coins for over 20 years) and am very good with grading Morgan Dollars. if you're comfortable with it, I'm willing to look through the album and pick out the coins that are worth grading. I can also give you an idea of the grades on the others. I do not do variety attributions. I would only charge return shipping and insurance.
Alternatively, you could go through the PCGS Price Guide and pick out the keys and semi-keys by looking at those with high prices even in MS60 or lower. You could then post images of those here and solicit help. With respect to the coins, melt value alone is $47.23 each as of the date this is posted. The grading fees for any coin starts at $23 with PCGS per coin not counting shipping and insurance. PCGS Photograde might also be helpful: https://www.pcgs.com/photograde#/Morgan/Grades. That should give you a pretty good idea
Thanks for all the information. Going through the box of coin related stuff she had ($20 of wheat cents ) found hand written notes appears that he started out with a bunch of coins, got the books, populated with what he had, sold duplicates to upgrade, etc. Found receipts for 1880-CC UNC; 1884-CC UNC; 1885-CC UNC; 1903-O UNC; 1904-O UNC; From the feedback here the UNC grades for those coins appears to be unwarranted. I see ANACS is going to be at a coin show in Minneapolis next weekend advertising 10 coins for $160. That's a 5 hour drive - seems like it might be worth it to submit some at the show.
If they end up being worth more than their ceiling on the $16 a coin charge they may tack on a modest extra charge for the higher tier. vams, pls and better grades could hopefully get cited in getting them graded. "You have to spend a dime to make a dollar" in any business.