I'm back, and a GSA question...

anablep · February 19, 2004 11:27PM

Hello all, I've had trouble logging in for, oh, about a month now due to changing (then forgetting) my new password.
Anyway, I recently purchased a GSA 1883-CC Morgan in MS64 and realized the holder doesn't say "Uncirculated Silver Dollar" just "Silver Dollar." The certificate card is different as well. Is this an error on the GSA's part or was I taken? The coin is obviously in uncirculated condition, but the packaging doesn't say so. At least you can say I bought the coin not the holder, right?

Tootawl · February 19, 2004 11:51PM

You might want to send this as a PM to GSAGuy. He'll know.

Tassa · February 19, 2004 11:54PM

Is the coin toned? For some reason a lot of Morgans which were obviously uncirculated were placed in GSA holders that don't say "Uncirculated." Many of them are coins with toning or mint errors.

razorface1027 · February 20, 2004 12:00AM

Yeah...Some of the GSA Morgans were issued like that with some labeled "Uncirculated Silver Dollar" & "Silver Dollar." I'm not really sure, but it had something to do with catagorization. Some had "C.C. Unc. silver dollar", "C.C silver dollar" and just plain old "silver dollar". They're uncirculated, and I don't think the labeling made any difference. Ask the GSAGUY...

anablep · February 20, 2004 12:03AM

Tassa: No, the coin is white and is not prooflike either. There are no signs of errors (I checked the VAM book for the date) and has great luster. I checked the VAM book chapter on the GSA hoard and they mention the number of dollars placed in uncirculated vs. circulated categories/holders. I guess that data is misleading or incorrect if the people grading them made mistakes. Didn't they have a standard group of coins to grade each specimen against? Perhaps the original purchasers of these misgraded coins in the 1970's got a good deal when they bought an "uncirculated" dollars at the "circulated" price.

JxnBoy · February 20, 2004 12:20AM

I asked a similar question not too long ago, and gsaguy and Dog97 told me what you're asking.

In the 70's, when the government boxed up the GSA hoard, anything that was blast white got put in the 'Uncirculated' box, and sold for a premium. Coins with any type of toning were put in boxes that said 'Silver Dollar' and sold at a discount because of the 'damaging oxidation' on the surface.

Unbelievable, that back then, the toned coins were actually cheaper, far cheaper, than the blast white coins.

My guess is that your coin is toned, at least to a certain extent. Is that the case?

anablep · February 20, 2004 12:35AM

Jxnboy: The reverse is white, the obverse is white except for a touch of gold toning above liberty near "Pluribus" but it is so light I can't imagine that would justify the circulated package. I'm not upset by this, just interested in the thinking process that went on back then and how the standards of coin grading and what was considered attractive have changed so much...
Interestingly, ebay has a GSA Ike dollar up for auction, which I never knew existed. Link is below. Interesting, any info on this coin???

GSA Ike Dollar

Tassa · February 20, 2004 12:39AM

<< <i>the obverse is white except for a touch of gold toning above liberty near "Pluribus" but it is so light I can't imagine that would justify the circulated package >>

Aha! That is likely the reason it ended up in that holder rather than one that says "uncirculated silver dollar." Apparently they were catagorized by people who didn't know squat about grading coins.

JxnBoy · February 20, 2004 12:44AM

<< <i>... I can't imagine that would justify the circulated package... >>

I'm not saying it's 'circulated' packaging, but just as Tassa says, they didn't know what they were doing. I think the entire hoard of GSA dollars was uncirculated, but I'd have to defer to those who know more about GSA than I.

razorface1027 · February 20, 2004 1:16AM

Interestingly, ebay has a GSA Ike dollar up for auction, which I never knew existed. Link is below. Interesting, any info on this coin???

I gotta pile of'em. That's the slab that the mint put the Ike proofs in. don't really know weather or not it's considered a GSA slab..

airplanenut · February 20, 2004 1:54AM

<< <i>Aha! That is likely the reason it ended up in that holder rather than one that says "uncirculated silver dollar." Apparently they were catagorized by people who didn't know squat about grading coins. >>

I think it was more that, back then, toning was considered damage... there's been a 180-degree flip in today's market compared to that one.

Jeremy

Trooper · February 20, 2004 2:26AM

There was 2 catagories for the coins. Uncirculated and the Mixed catagory. The mixed catagory was still uncirculated coins but were considered to baggy or toned to be in the "Uncirculated" catagory. So in reality a white(untoned) GSA coin in a "Silver Dollar" marked holder might never make a ms64,65 or 66 grade, but a toned coin in that holder might. The mixed catagory also had the other non CC dates and those could pull great grades also becuase they were only put in the "Silver Dollar holders" catagory no matter how they looked. Some of my better 1878cc GSA Morgans are in the Soft packs. The coins came from the same sale but are in much better shape.

Tom

Steve27 · February 20, 2004 2:40AM

I just wanted to add, that this is why the certificate card is different. Only the "uncirculated" coins received the certificates with serial numbers. Additionally there were Peace dollars which were part of the GSA sale, but none of these were sold as "uncirculated" even though most were. Here's one I picked up recently:

I'm back, and a GSA question...

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