My grandmother used to work in a nursing home a few years ago and a woman that she cared for gave her two Morgan dollars. I am new to coin collecting and have some questions 1. The 1882 dollar it's much darker than the 1921-Is that normal? Does that happen over the years? Does it lessen the value of a coin. 2. Where can I buy Morgan dollars? ( I know ebay is one)? 3. Anyone can suggest a book for novice coin collecting? 4. Collecting Morgan dollars a good investment? Thanks for your help and patience.
Welcome to the forum Actionadventure. :smile 1. Silver tends to tone and sometimes darken over the years. A lot of toning issues are directly linked to how the coin was stored. The reason the '21 lacks the same issues as the '82 could be a better storage environment or a good old fashioned cleaning. (BTW...don't do that).:smile 2. On line auctions and dealers. There are many. One example, mintproducts.com. 3. A guide book of United States coins (Red Book) by R.S. Yeoman. Try your local public library for starters, however, you're probably going to eventually want to own this volume. :smile 4. I wouldn't recommend Morgans as an investment (coins, in general, are not a good investment) but they sure as heck are fun to collect.
I agree :thumb:. Also, if you're interested in Morgans, I would suggest Bowers Book: A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars. As for eBay, if your going to buy off there, stick with certified coins from the top tpgs (PCGS, NGC, ANACS). Btw the 1882 is an 1882-S (San Fransisco mint).
Clarification collecting any coins for investment purposes is not a good idea - in my opinion. Also check out vamworld. They also have listed some booksover here. Morgans are a favorite to collect of a lot of people. While not my favorite I do enjoy them and my father actively collects them.
Welcome and, Welcome and my answer are, 1. Sliver can turn all the colors in the world but the one it turns most often is grey or black, very common. 2. You can buy Morgan dollars anywhere, shops, shows, mail order, online dealers but first buy the book. 3. The Red Book. 4. Morgan dollars are not a good investment unless you are ready to buy many in the $700 to $5000 each range and do your homework before hand, then hold them up to 10 years or more. Morgan dollars are one of the most common coins in all of U.S. history, few are rare and millions are availible in mint state - there is absolutly no collected series before 1935 with even a fraction of remaining mint state examples as the Morgan silver dollar. It was a govt. buy out to even produce them, no one needed them except the silver barons (place to go with their silver), very few ever even saw one before 1900, they did not circulate and they sat in Govt. valults for years (almost 85 years) before being depleted in the 1960's. They can be had at every shop and show, virtually every dealer in the country has them - they are common as cats.
I just spent the last 1/2 hour trying to reset my password to no avail so I had to create a new account. Thanks for the helpful responses. The answer to my next question is probably obvious to you seasoned collectors buttt...Why is it bad to clean the dark toned coins (I was tempted to:goof? It is a matter of preference?
Don't clean your coins As a general rule cleaning of any coin is considered damaging...some do it to conserve and in the past may have been common practice, but any cleaning you may do at home would probably greatly reduce the value, and possibly totally ruin the eye appeal...plenty of threads on this forum about the hazards of cleaning
Well it is a kind of preference - the preference for most collectors are the natural surfaces of a coin. Any damage or cleaning will reduce the value of the coin and may just ruin it completely. Now see this thread about what nesvt managed with his morgans. He know what he was doing and I would not try it, and I do not recommended it - especially for a beginner. So enjoy them as they are - nothing wrong with a dark morgan.
Yeah, I wouldn't clean that 82-S. Although it has some wear on it, I like the toning, it's a nice looking coin. If it were mine, I'd put it in an air tight holder to prevent futher toning, as left unchecked, the toning could evetually become unattractive and destroy the coin.
