My First High-Grade Morgan / TPG advice

I love my Morgan's. I agree, you should grade it yourself. Sorry to say but your Morgan does not appear to be MS60. Check it very closely before you reseal it. All Morgan's are keepers. Thanks for sharing it and good luck.

 

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The image of your Morgan dollar is blue on my screen but, even with the odd image I can tell it isn't worth sending in for grading. It will likely come back details graded. This is a common date dollar. I know you called it your first high grade Morgan but, normally when calling a Morgan dollar as high grade, it usually implies the coin would grade at least MS 65.

 

Wise choice. Slab it yourself to keep it protected.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll refrain from using the term "High-Grade" until it's around 65. The proper wording probably should have been "Highest Grade" being as my other one is a 1921 in about VF condition by Red Book standards.

 

Over time you will learn the correct terminology, no big deal. Coin talk is a good site to get information from. There are a few guys that tend to put some collectors down. Don't let any one's comments bother you. I'm going to tell you a secret. Most collectors started out collecting with either very limited knowledge or no knowledge at all about coins. I got hooked very young when my grandmother gave me a Walking Liberty half dollar to buy a bag of plastic army men. I think I was 4 or 5 at the time. I bought the army men but, really wanted to keep the half dollar too. My coin budget was very small in the beginning. I was buying Lincoln cents to fill my blue folder for 5 to 25 cents. Over the next 59 years my budget has grown and my knowledge has also. I advise any one that collects coins to buy some books on the coins you like. Some information may be on the internet but, sometimes it can be hard to find and incomplete. The basic RED BOOK is ok but, it's very limited. If you like Morgan dollars there are some great books you can buy. Go to Wizard Coin Supply and check out the books they offer for sale.

 

Oh, the ones ranked up there with the almighty? Take 'm with a grain. They put their pants on the same way as you......one leg at a time.

 

Good choice but don't assume "expensive coin" means acceptable grade "free pass."

Some will argue this but in my own experiences collecting as an adult over the past 14 years, trying to save $$ by buying a coin ungraded and getting it graded yourself is a losing game. Too many raw problem coins.

As I said, most things that were truly worth getting graded have been graded out there and a very large portion of what is not in a TPG slab are problem coins. I have not kept track but I have submitted more than average for my type set and played this game. You rarely win. In addition to being costly at times its a little nerve racking just hoping a coin you really like will simply straight grade. Never mind be the higher grade you want.

I've paid $225 for a nice "mint state" blast white 1917 standing liberty quarter with perfect details that looked like full luster to me. Submitted, paid the grading fees and shipping and got it back in an AU details slab. Then sold it for $125 to a dealer who planned to crack it and sell it as a raw coin again, probably for what I originally paid. The difference between that likely dipped quarter and a MS64 FH is very minimal.

This scenario can play out over and over. Some stuff will trick you. I wouldn't have sent that quarter in if I thought it was cleaned. The smaller the coin is the tougher it is to tell for me. I've had a few winners over the years. If you need to do it, be prepared for a decent amount of failures. It's disappointing because usually a details grade actually cuts the value of the coin down more than if it were raw. You paid to devalue your coin essentially.

Edited to add: The failures can be a valuable learning tool for yourself. Even though it can be disappointing I've found some of my cleaned ones that came back to be interesting to study and try to pick up on what I missed.