Where Do They Get All These Morgan and Peace Rolls?

I do a lot of searching on Ebay and watching prices of rolls of Morgans and Peace dollars. But there are a few sellers that constantly have numerous rolls of BU Morgans and Peace dollars....like hsturn and enumismatics, as well as rolls of Franklin, WL halves and others. Where the heck do they find so many rolls like that to keep posting nearly every night new rolls? I have been to quite a few estate auctions and I don't find UNC rolls of Morgans and Peace. Just curious where they find such a steady supply.

 

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From other dealers.

 

I know a guy whose parents own three coin stores in Washington and Oregon. They buy a lot of coins from their local customers and then they flip them on FeeBay where they fetch a higher price. The fees are mostly a wash because they'd either have to pay fees or pay sales tax.

Also, he's going to school here in Montana, so whenever he comes home for a break, his parents load him up with junk silver to sell out here to people like me.

 

Yeah, there are PLENTY of BU morgans around.

There is one large firm in Texas that does huge business in these, both buying and selling. Its where a couple of dealers I know always either sold excess or bought needed bulk silver. There is a whole other level of dealers most of us don't know who make their living servicing retail details with inventory, and buying from them at wholesale levels. They provide a valuable service for our hobby.

 

Morgans were generously minted for MOST dates, and did not circulate much. They are also extremely popular with collectors, so dealers buy/sell/trade to get them in abundance.

 

I honestly cannot think of another US silver coin that exists in higher numbers in BU condition. Things like roosevelts and washingtons MIGHT have been more, but I bet you a lot of those got melted. So, taking account melting, I am betting more BU morgan dollars exist than any other type of US silver coin.

 

Are you talking about that place that sounds like it's in Rhode Island? If, so. That's where I buy my Morgan's and Peace for my kids.

 

These are "put-together" rolls from bulk purchases. It is one of the less-than-forthright ways that someone can sell a "pipedream" on FleaBay, and it isn't any different from someone who claims to have unsearched rolls of any other denomination for sale.

Chris

 

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I wonder why it seems a lot of people assume anytime someone sells coins in a roll, that they're supposedly "unsearched" or running some sort of scam.

I have seen the silly auctions that advertise penny rolls as "unsearched' with a mercury dime on the end. But not all auctions or sales are like that, and many people who sell coins in rolls are not trying to be "less-than-forthright". For example, one of the sellers mentioned in the OP, "hsturn", does a very good job of describing what is up for sale and has decent pictures of the coins laid out. They are not advertised as being "sealed in an original bank roll" or "unsearched" or any other such nonsense.

So why is it that this is a "pipedream", or "less-than-forthright", or "isn't any different from someone who claims to have unsearched rolls..." I think there is a big difference: Some sellers claim their coins are unsearched and others do not. I don't really think it's fair to lump them all together into the same assumption.

The reason I want to know about this is simple: I have sold coins in rolls before and probably will in the future. Primarily bullion coins, but also some buffaloes and war nickels. Stuff that came in a lot of coins where I wanted the majority of what was in the lot, but there was also stuff I didn't want. Of course I would rather not be viewed as being "less-than-forthright", so I don't claim that they're "unsearched" even though I didn't search through them. Does this mean I should sell them individually rather than in rolls? No thanks!

 

I agree with you Blaubart. I only mentioned hsturn as I watch the bidding on his rolls and he does do a pretty good job of describing them, although sometimes I wish he would show more individual coins out of a roll so you can see the condition of more of the coins you would get. I have taken wheat pennies that I didn't want to stash and just put them in a pile and rolled them without going through them to cull out dates and then sold them on Ebay. Nothing wrong with that. I truly did not search them or care what was in the rolls and one guy got a 1910-S and he was happy as a clam. More power to him. I was happy he found something good. But I also look at the penny rolls where the people all claim they are unsearched with an Indian on one end, etc, etc, and some use the same picture over and over. I know you can buy gizmos that lets you roll the end of the wrapper and a little scuffing can make it look older. Unfortunately, that's just the way life is. Some people are more honest than others.

I guess it stands to reason that since there are so many Morgans and Peace floating around that there would be more UNC rolls. I just wondered if there was some magic way these people get their hands on all these BU rolls cause I'd sure like to find some at a decent price...lol. I'll just keep watching my auctions and see what I come up with. I am off to an estate auction this weekend that has over 100 Morgan and Peace dollars in it. Weather permitting Friday afternoon I an going to go to the preview to see exactly what's in there so I know what I might be interested in since they didn't show the lot online so I could see the dates or list them individually.

 

Personally, I would spend more time at good coin shows and see what the dealers have. I have always had more luck, (especially for silver dollars for some reason), at coin shows and shops than auctions.

It simply seems the general public spend WAY too much on silver dollars. An auction I used to attend in the 90's would regularly have people paying $15 a piece for common worn morgans, and I knew, (because I was physically standing there when he did it), that the auctioneer simply bought them for $6 a piece each week at my favorite coin store. The auctioneer had a standing order for about 10 cheap silver dollars, some misc junk silver, and a cleaned or slightly damaged small gold piece. Whatever he could get cheap from the coin dealer, the auctioneer would buy and double his money on, each and every week.

I learned that lesson when I was twenty, that many times in this hobby its education about WHERE to buy that is as, or more, important than WHAT to buy.

 

I don't consider your comments to be argumentative. I respect your right to voice your opinion.

I didn't say that the Morgan rolls were advertised with a claim of being unsearched. What I am saying is that people who do buy other denominations that come with a claim of being unsearched are living in a fantasy world and that dream that they will hit the mother lode in one of those rolls is the same dream that a newbie would have when viewing an ad for rolls of Morgan dollars.

Rolls of Morgans were very, very rare until the Treasury releases of the 60's & 70's. When those $1000 bags were purchased, you can be sure that the majority of the bags were carefully searched for the high grades and rarities. Today, about the only thing you will find in rolls are the common-date, low grade UNC's and/or circulated coins that were bought in bulk. It's pointless for a seller to spend all his time trying to unload common-date Morgans, individually, on eBay especially if he has a large inventory that will only grade MS60-62.

Morgans rolls are nothing like Wheatie, Buff or Jeff rolls which some sellers (not all!) try to unload with the claim of being unsearched. It is a big hunk of silver that can practically sell itself (to a beginner), and a seller doesn't have to make any misleading claims about them, but I would be very surprised if you found any UNC Morgans in any of those rolls that would grade MS63 or better.

Chris

 

Um, maybe you should change your date range for treasury releases to 50's-60's rather than 60-70's Chris.

Don't disagree with the rest of the post though.

 

I think I misunderstood your other post. I got the impression you were referring to anyone selling rolls of coins on FeeBay.

 

Duly noted!

Chris

 

Well, I assume that there are no more unsearched Morgan or Peace dollar rolls. All of the remaining rolls are pieced together, and many of these coins have been cleaned or have other problems. Even BU rolls probably have sliders in them. I think the primary value of these rolls is bullion value. So it's a good way to store silver, but I wouldn't trust it as a numismatic investment, other than the typical premium for coins.

 

Whats a slider? Ive seen the term used several times around here now, so what does it mean?

 

It used to mean a coin with just a tiny amount of circulation wear, so it appears at first glance BU but is in fact circulated.

To me I believe the term is antiquated, since most of these go into MS61-63 slabs nowadays.

 

Wow....and to think I thought sliders were coins that were very worn and almost worn smooth....