Thinking about starting a morgan dollar set for my grandson what are the key dates

Going to be starting a Morgan dollar set for my grandson, more of a
Currency guy then a coin guy but wanted to find out the common
Dates and key ones and advice would be appreciated

 

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Too many to list, how about, first buy him a Red Book.

 

What grades are you looking at? Some are common in circulated condition but become scarce as the grades climb.

 

Like @Treashunt said. Buy a Redbook. You can easily see which dates are better relative to the others (ignore the absolute values of the pricing). The redbook is filled with lots and lots of useful info. Best $10-15 you'll ever spend on the hobby and while you're at it, buy one for the kid too. That will give you an idea if he is interested in coins BEFORE you give him a collection of Morgans.

BTW: I would bet that nearly ever experienced member on Coin Talk has a redbook that they used regularly when they started out collecting US coins

 

Couple factors to take into account here. Are you doing a date set? Date and mintmark? Date and mintmark with major varieties? That changes you price a lot depending what you are going for. Also grade is a factor, as said before there is dates/mm that are common in one grade, but very scarce in others.

 

some of those rare morgan dollars:

• 1884-S

With a mintage of 3,200,000 coins, more rare in unc. condition.

• 1885-CC

228,000 produced

• 1889-CC

350,000 Pieces were produced

• 1892-CC

only 1,352,000 produced

• 1892-s

a mintage of 1,200,000

• 1893

A mintage of 378,000 more valuable in unc. condition

• 1893-O

300,000 Minted

• 1893-S

100,000 Pieces produced

• 1893-CC

A mintage of 677,000

• 1894-P

110,000 Minted

• 1895

12,000 coins were struck for circulation, but 880 proofs were struck.

• 1901

6,592,000 pieces were struck for circulation, worth more in unc. condition.

• 1903-O

there was only a mintage of 4,450,000 pieces.
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There are many more.......you need a red book. Good Luck and hope this helps.

 

Get a Yeoman Red Book first. Even in low grade some of those Morgan's are a killer on the wallet. Peace Dollars are more affordable and less of them to complete a full set.

 

The Morgans are a complicated series. Lots of "keys", lots of conditional rarities, lots of varieties.

If you're trying to do date and mint mark, you'll need pretty deep pockets, even if you're willing to accept low-grade or problem coins. If you're just doing a date set, I think 1893 and 1895 are the only years that are expensive no matter the condition and mint mark.

Oh, and as everybody else said, buy a Red Book. It costs less than a single cull Morgan. Until you do, though, you can also look up prices on Numismedia; most of the prices there are unrealistically high, but they'll give you a sense of relative pricing.

 

I like Morgans too, for various reasons. But why are you going for them? With all the different coins out there, you can easily create a complete set of cheaper coins.

 

Buy the Morgan Dollar Red Book. It will answer all of your questions and it's a great history lesson.

 

That would be good fun for him, I even remember being exstatic for getting just 2 peace dollars from my grand dad! A 1925 s and 1927, get him into coins! Make sure to tell him not clean them though. I made that mistake due to not getting told about the dangers of coin cleaning.

 

Basically looking for a good quality unc. set if possible, also some
Carson city issues, i am a big fan of TPG as i have several sets
On the PCGS currency side

 

just for a reality check look at the PCGS price guide for the complete set in MS60....$270,000.00....

 

this one will take a hunk of cash.

 

Not going to buy the set all at one time...LOL, here and there but would
Like to stay with consistent quality thru out in other words, dont want
High end and low end stuff mixed.

 

I'm with you a 100% on this which is why my complete set (in Dansco albums) is AG to Fine (ish) and my date set is MS (with a couple of AU's in the '90's).

 

And still do, I know I still refer to my copy frequently.

 

Just a few comments:
1) please let’s not call a coin with a mintage of 1M and higher “rare” ;-) even if many were melted, such a coin is not rare in any way...

2) you don’t necessarily need a red book if you want to focus on Morgans; there’s so much data online and easy to find

I’d rather get a more specialized book such as: A guide book of Morgan Silver dollars, 5th edition, see: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-Morgan-Silver-Dollars/dp/0794844111
...or if you want to go pro get the VAM variety book.

3) think about the “new” collector? what would he/she like most? a rainbow toned coin? an interesting VAM variety? completing a set? or a key date coin, which is only affordable in a low grade and/or damaged condition?

I’d personally start with an 1880/81/82-S with decent toning and/or outstanding eye-appeal. In MS63 they’re affordable and still look nice.

 

I don’t believe any non-proof 1895s have ever been found, despite Mint records.

 

Popular too. And seductive...

It's easy to find beautiful high-grade (MS65) examples under $200. That's how I started my graded collection.

But then I learned about identifying die varities (VAMs).

I tried, I really did. But IMO Morgans are the most complicated U.S. coin series. Minutiae ad nauseam. Gives me a headache just thinking about it.

Instead, I returned my numismatic focus to half dollars -- mostly Walking Liberty, a few high-end Franklins, and some low-end 19th century stuff. Much happier in that familiar arena.