Quick question for the experts...With gsa morgans what's the difference between the cases that say uncirculated silver dollar or just silver dollar.. beside the obvious that it is in circulated condition.. I thought they had only had uncirculated ones... can't find any on ebay that say only silver dollar.. there is one on my local craigslist and just want to make sure it is legit before going to look at it..
The coins not in the uncirculated cases are still uncirculated. They were placed in those cases due to toning or excessive bag marks. The uncirculated coins are nice and white.
Some of them, not all. Some of the coins sold in the GSA sales really are circulated. For that matter some of the coins in the Uncirculated holders really are circulated.
There were four different GSA holders one soft pack and three hard pack. The soft pack was used for the coins that were obviously worn no matter what mint they were from (And for some reason a lot of the MS 1878-CC dollars were put into the soft packs as well.) The first hard park just says UNITED STATES UNCIRCULATED Silver Dollar. These were used for the uncirculated dollars that were not from Carson City. The next hard pack was labeled Carson City Silver Dollar, This holds Carson City silver dollars that the GSA graders did not feel were truly uncirculated. These were coins that had no wear but were toned or heavily bag marked. The last hard pack was labeled Carson City Uncirculated Silver Dollar. These were the untoned uncirculated CC dollars.
Saw some about 5-10 of these at a flea market today...guy wanted $200 each and said he would make a better deal if I bought them all...didn't have that kind of cash, but I was curious about whether $200 was a good price or not...the only one open and visible was an 1884 CC...said uncirculated silver dollar...I've been curious about these too...
$200 is a fair retail price if they are real. Be aware that there of fakes of almost all coins now, including those in GSA holders, so personally, I wouldn't buy such an expensive item from a flea market seller, if I couldn't authenticate them (which I can't).
I've never seen or heard of a fake GSA holder. I have heard of one or two cases where someone tried to open one and switch out the coin but they were easily detected. (They did foolish things like putting VF coins in holders used for Uncirculated coins.)
I heard second hand about a flea market guy selling silver dollars in large black plastic cases for a very good price. Don't know if the seller was trying to pass them off as GSA's or Redfields or was on the up and up and just had some generic holder or bank gift holder, as this was a second hand story and I didn't see the cases or the coins. Whatever the case, these days I would be doubly careful, especially with flea market sellers. If there aren't fake GSA holders on the market today, they are almost sure to be in the future. Be careful out there. Overall, I see zero reason to risk buying at a flea market for a commonly available coins like GSA silver dollars. Even if the price was very good, which it isn't at $200 for common date GSAs, a very good price for coins at a flea market is often an indication of a scam, not a bargain.
Either did Lim Low Wong from China. Now he's making them day and night and still can't keep up with the demand. jk
