Now that (with the help of everyone here) I've realized coin collecting is a lifelong hobby, I'm going to s l o w l y start to collect the Morgan dollar. Unless I hear a good solution to the contrary, I'll use the Red Book as my 'guide/checklist' -- I gotta have a LITTLE structure... In starting, the '78,'79, and '80 versions are somewhat intimidating so I'll save those for later... My question is on the 1882-0 O over S, the Red Book does not separate "Strong" and "Weak" so I'll only collect one. Are these terms referring to the strike? Does it make a difference which one I choose? If there is another standard other than the Red Book by which to follow, I'm very open to that as well! Thank you all for the help these past few years
There are lots of references for Morgan dollars. Q David Bowers (QDB) may be viewed as the dean of American numismatic authors and he wrote an authoratative reference series on silver dollars that of course covers Morgan dollars. Also, Van Allen and Mallis wrote a definitive work on Morgan dollars that looks at die marriages and these are often called VAMs. I imagine "strong" and "weak" refer to how well the undermintmark is visible.
DO NOT use the Redbook as a price guide. It is way out of line. I'd use the PCGS price guide, as a very rough guideline, and that is on the high side--it is meant for PCGS slabbed coins only. I'd start with the 1880s, 1881s and 1882s, as they are extremely easy to collect, and nice examples exist inexpensively. I would then go the 1882o 1883o, 1884o, 1885 o and 1886o. Once again, nice examples are readily available at reasonable prices. I can give you more details if you so desire, as I have been collecting Morgan dollars for most of my life. I would use Bowers as a reference, as he's much more detailed than the Redbook.
Agreed there. Kevinfred, past Auction prices realized will also help you determine a "normal" range for a "typical" coin of a particular date and mm. I like using ebay for this, but obviously there is a lot of info at ha.com (join for free to see prices) and others. A higher end coin for the grade will be on the higher end of the normal range, or even beyond. Especially if your going to go for toned examples. Lot of nice Morgans have been examined and stickered by CAC, so you might want to think about that too.
Morgans are a great US coin series to collect. There are so many different ways you can assemble a set; business strikes by date/mm, date set, CC set, P mint set etc. They come in all grades, and are fairly easy to grade with a little bit of effort. They are so much fun, I've really enjoyed assembling my set. Redbook is always a good starting point, but I'd recommend The Morgan Silver Dollar book by Q David Bowers as others have on this thread. Get your hands on a greysheet, check out eBay recently ended auctions and use numismedia to get a more accurate idea of price. Good luck...and most of all...enjoy!
If you wish to use the red book as a so-called checklist, by all means do so. It’s simple, easy, and the listed varieties are always popular, but as others have said, do not use it as your sole guide or reference. The QDB book TomB mentioned above is available online. Here is the link; http://www.pcgs.com/books/silver-dollars/ Many basic and/or general questions you may have can be answered within.
I've decided to collect the Morgan series myself, only I am starting with all the S's 1878-1921, first. There's a few other MM I have, but doing it this way gives me some sense of order. When I get around to it, I'll have to post what I have. So far: 1878 7/8TF 1878 S 1879 S 1883 CC 1885 O 1886 P 1887 O VAM 2 Doubled 1, tripled 7 1904 O I may have a few more but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Morgans are fun to collect. I have Bowers' book as well as the large VAM book and like them both. Even though VAMs are a secondary area of my collecting, I highly recommend you pick up the book as it's informative in every regards to the series. Guy
I'm also doing morgans (recently started) trying for AU as much as possible but price will limit that on some of them. What I Have done as a "starter" is to get just a yearbook (Dansco 7171 date set) This way I can work on a lesser set 1st needing only 1 coin per year and one of each mint mark as well. I find it much less intimidating then starting the "full" set (at least 3 times as many coins more if you count major VAMs) I am however as an added chalenge/twist trying to make every coin in the date set a VAM. All in all alot of fun so far and has helped me learn tons more about Morgans (with alot of help from many of the guys here )
[FONT=&]Depending on your experience and budget, I might recommend starting out with a different mint. The problem is that depending on your desired grade range, and unless you are willing to invest heavily into your collection, there are at least few potential stoppers. A simple and old-style date set might be easier, and even if you still concentrated on S mints, you could substitute for other mints when/if the price becomes prohibitive. Just be sure to do your homework and thing everything through before jump on board; in no way am I trying to question your collecting goals.[/FONT]
I just started a couple months ago, I love the Morgans but I have a lot into them now pricey little guys. Enjoy I just picked up a New Morgan today, a 1881 CC nice coin. Good Luck on this Adventure.
As an experienced Morgan collector, who has bought, sold, and re-bought Morgans, there are some dates for which you must compromise. Just about everybody knows the 1893s--the King of Morgans. To get a nice VF-EF one (forget about MS--that isn't happening, unless you win the power ball), you're talking $6-8000. For the 89cc, same thing. The 1884s, one must settle for AU at the best, or look at $20,000+, as it is a conditional rarity. Same goes for a lot of the late 80's S mint Morgans---they are tough. All of the coins from 1892-1895 are tough dates, so expect to compromise on condition, or spend a lot. They get pricey as the condition goes up. There are other significant conditional and datewise rarities (an 1895 P proof is the MOST expensive Morgan).
Start with rare key dates because the longer you wait to collect the rare dates and mint marks, the more valuable these will become in the future and you may not be able to afford all of them.
Bad advice. Start with the easy dates, and see if you like the coin sufficiently to spend over $100,000 to have a full set. The key dates have aways been expensive.
Well, I have decided and know about the S MM of the Morgans. And I am willing to buy only what I can afford. Even in lower grades. I can't have every one Uncirculated, I realize that. Just collecting all the S's alone is a challenge. After that, onto the next and the next.
