I'm thinking of purchasing my very first Morgan Dollar. I would like a BU coin, any date, it doesn't matter. Which one is the cheapest, is it the 1921? What should I expect to pay for a BU? I don't want to overpay. Thanks & Happy Holidays everyone
Any 1921 will be attainable for a reasonable price, but I would also look at the date range 1880-1887 as these will be close to the price of an exceptional 1921. Well, as long as you don't consider the CC dollars
agreed, I'd try and find an O mint mark from the 1880's. Always nice to have a 19th century coin compared to a 20th century. But you should be able to get a BU between $35-45, depending on where you buy it. Merry Christmas!
You can get a nice proof like 1881-S pretty cheap, and it really doesn't get much better as a type coin.
Don't worry about buying the cheapest or overpaying, but instead focus on finding a nice, original, and reasonably price example. Since this will be your first Morgan, I also suggest you buy certified; there are regularly thousands of slabbed mid MS coins available for not that much more than you might pay for someone's raw "BU". The 1921s are of a slightly different and less attractive design, so take a close look before you consider one. Cpm9ball's date suggestions would make a fine first coin. Good luck.
80 and 81-s many o mintmarks from the 1880s and quite a few Philadelphia mints such as 1887 are ready available in nice unc grades you can often find one even slabbed in ms 63 for $50 even less raw sometimes a good value on an attractive coin that's 130 years old
They may cost slightly more (and I do mean slightly) but I would seriously consider the 80-S, 81-S,the 1880's O mint dollars etc that the others have mentioned. Yes the 21 is slightly cheaper, but with a mintage of over 86 million is is also by far the most common Morgan and frankly I don't think they have quite the eye appeal as the earlier coins. (The Morgan dies and hubs had all been scrapped in 1910, so when they had to strike them again in 1921 they had to recreate the design from scratch. The design is slightly different, the relief is lower, and planchet preparation was not the same.) So seriously consider the older 19th century coins with better eye appeal and lower mintage over the 20th century, lackluster, very high mintage coin.
