Thread: Morgan Dollar Question

PCGS and NGC slabed coins usually sell for more then ANACS coins, especially coins in the new ANACS slabs. You say common dates in MS62-64, what dates exactly? Because it may not even be worth the money to send them for grading.

The 1885-O in 63-64 sell for around $40, so it's really not going to be worth the $10 in grading fees plus around another $20 in shipping fees to get the coins graded if they're only going to sell for around $40.

As for the other coins, are they already in PCGS holders, and your thinking about sending them to ANACS for a crossover?

My "rule of thumb" is, to merit slabbing, the cost should be under 10% of the expected value of the coin.
That means even with a $10 special I would have to feel the value of the coin is at least in the $120-150 range.
Of course this is a pure economic analysis.
If a coin has personal/family value, then do as you wish.

Originally Posted by youin1

I have some common date Morgan SIlver Dollars that are in MS62-64 condition. I am thinking of having them certified by ANACS but I want to know if their certification will be worth less money in the future than a PCGS or NGC certification. Thanks!

Yes, as has already been said...PCGS and NGC graded coins will sell for a premium over an ANACS coin graded the same grade because ANACS's standards are not as high. In the old days, before the ANACS company changed hands, they were consider an excellent grading company. That is no longer the case.

Originally Posted by kanga

My "rule of thumb" is, to merit slabbing, the cost should be under 10% of the expected value of the coin.
That means even with a $10 special I would have to feel the value of the coin is at least in the $120-150 range.
Of course this is a pure economic analysis.
If a coin has personal/family value, then do as you wish.

I think this is excellent advice. Typically, it's best to only submit coins that are worth a lot more than the grading costs...I think 10% is a great number to use. Now, if you want a common date coin in the MS62-64 range that is graded...it's best to buy that coin already in the slab as you will save money that way. Again, as kanga said...if this particular coins has sentimental value, then that changes things.

Originally Posted by youin1

What coins would you consider a good investment?
Thanks!

I don't think coins are a good investment at all because their market is very hard to predict. If you want to use coins as an investment, I recommend bullion coins as their value is dictated by the intrinsic metal value rather than collector value.

What coins would you consider a good investment?

I wouldn't. Every now and then you can luck out through some fluke and have a coin that actually does prove to be a good investment but they are usually not the obvious ones. And Hull's comment about high grades and ket dates isn't always a good one either. This past week the Wal Street Journal had a front page article on coin investing where they touted the PCGS3000 index (Which is made up of very high grades and key dates) and how much it has gone up since 1970. But the forgot to mention that the first nine years of data is comparing apples and oranges becaust the Sheldon grading scale used in the index wasn't in use then. Nor did they mention that even though the index is made up of PCGS graded coins those didn't exist between 79 and 86 either so that data is questionable as well. If you only look at the data during the time PCGS has existed and for which you have good data you will find that the index is DOWN 67% since 1989. Over the last ten years it is up, but only at an annual rate of 2.5% which is less than even the official rate of inflation. Over the entire 23 year period it is completely flat. The high grade and key date coins in the index are worth almost exactly the same amount today as they were in 1986. Hardly my idea of a good investment.

They also told of a collector who sold his Barber half set for 1.1 million dollars, almost 100% more than it cost. Of course that was after taking 7 years to build it and then holding it for another 8 years. His annual pre-tax return on investment was only 5%. and coins have a 28% capital gains tax rate on profits. His after tax rate of return is only 4% per annum. It isn't that hard to get 3% on CD's, and he probably could have gotten a much higher rate during at least part of those 15 years.

What is interesting with th key dates is that often the LOWER grades tend to have better rates of return than the high grades.