Has anyone done it on a budget? Obviously you consider full time coin dealers that spend more money on a coin than a car, then yes that has probably been done, but I want to know if anyone has tried doing it on a budget. I want to set myself a max price of $90 per coin and get the most toning possible on each date. I've decided to start in the 1880's and do a ten year date set of toned Morgans because the 1880's are the most abundant and cheapest. So anyway I started with this coin below. It's not crazy rainbow toned but I got it for $52, which is basically normal price without toning, so I'll take it! Anyone with a bit of knowledge of toned Morgans will know that this textile toning is quite rare and sought after. I'm going to keep the grade for a GTG, but I can tell you that it is a nice MS grade. I might turn this into an article with all my progress... we'll see.
It can be done for the decade between 1880-1889 with average to decent coins. The full date set won't be possible as the 1895 date will be a stopper (and many of the 1890s won't be easy to find with nice color, especially under $100).
It really surprises me to hear that the toning on that coin is sought after by anyone. Colorful textile toning, of course. But dull brownish gray toning? I think most would prefer a blast white coin to that, and would've thought that coin would sell well below list price. But I don't collect Morgans, so maybe I'm off base ...
Yeah it's an acquired taste. Usually, any toning sells for more than blast white. I agree that it isn't so beautiful, but I basically thought that if I was going to get a textile toned Morgan, I might as well get this one. If you want any other color with that much textile toning then in it's in the thousands. Any other textile toned coin under $90 would have a tiny bit of textile toning. Anyway, as I said it is quite different and it's an acquired taste.
Sorry, but the OP coin will be a bear to sell when the time comes. The trouble is, it has little eye appeal. The reverse is blah. The toning has killed the luster, at least from the photo, and the obverse has a lot of marks. The only toning to brings premiums on Morgan Dollars is the colorful kind. Brown and tan is not on most people’s buy lists. And, yes, I agree. Spotting artificial toning can be hard. Some people who are really into “monster toning” can’t spot it, and some of them even like it. It’s a market that I avoid partly because I have no idea how to price it, and partly because of the pitfalls created by coin doctors.
question - does album toning count as natural or AT? Here's one that I think is that. Personally, I like it because the toning matches on both sides, but it is very likely album toning.
A lot of eBay are trying to push that any toning = big premium. Don’t fall into that mindset like so many fad followers. It will bite you big when it comes time to sell. You coin is only worth the same as a generic untoned Morgan. As for the question in the title, no I have never thought about building a date set of Toned Morgans. I have thought about building simply a date set, but I rejected the idea on the basis that I hate Morgans with a burning passion.
For whatever reason if the toning is original or natural this coin has eye appeal I like it. But I'm a morgan man and I keep all of mine high grade, low grade, or no grade they are a great part of American history! My opinion keep it.
There are a fair number of collectors who don't like Morgan Dallars because so many of them are common in Mint State, and they have been heavily promoted. You can go to some small coin shows, and all you see is cases full of Morgan Dollars. Some guys are sick of seeing that. My view is that they have an interesting history, which has a lot to do with the politics of the time. I have toyed with the idea of building a date set twice, but lost interest. As a dealer, there is a lot of money to be made by selling Morgan Dollars to collectors. If you have the money, all of the date and mint mark combinations are easy to find, even the 1893-S and the 1895 Proof. Dealers like that. You don't have go crazy filling Morgan Dollar want lists. They are all out there. Here are the obverses of my Morgan Dollar collection. I also have an 1883 in Proof as a type coin.
My fear would be that there are so many AT coins out there, that's all that would be available in your price range. I think I'd cheat and buy nice coins and tone them my self. LOL (Just kidding, so don't pile on me.)
This strikes the nail on the head. They are just too common to be interesting. Basically they are the Lincoln cents of classic US coinage. I took a friend with absolutely no experience in coins to a coin show. I showed her a couple high-grade toned Morgans, and she thought they looked really nice. After seeing dozens of cases full of them, she remarked how super boring it was to be seeing so many of them. They have a nice design, and high-grade examples are very pretty, but there are so many other coins that have extant examples in the thousands or hundreds (or less) for the same price as Morgans with literally millions in existence in mint state. Total waste of money IMO.
I looked into them a bit - I found the vam thing pretty interesting and compelling. But it goes on forever and ever and despite small differences they are all the same. So I lost interest in them as a collection goal of any kind - however having one or a few as part of other sets is really nice, e.g. A type set from a particular mint, etc. I found pretty quickly that a collection of any one coin type gets old pretty quickly - but date sets, or a civil war set, or gold from a particular mint or anything like that makes for a more interesting pursuit and a more interesting collection. There are so many interesting US coins from the past, why look for just one type?