Morgan dollars population

I know that Morgan dollars have been on the market in bulk for decades. And I do understand the concept of supply and demand so please there is no need to teach me the concept. But my question is- is anyone ever uncomfortable about the high populations compared to other type coins. It really makes me hesitate personally when I consider buying them. For example right now on eBay 16738 out of 126827 ngc and pcgs coins are Morgans. I was looking at the population reports and if you browse standing lib quarters the pops don't go over a thousand or two. Same with commen date Indian cents. Yet common Morgans are in the hundreds of thousands and I'm not even discussing ngc pop's. Yes I know Morgans have a huge crack out mispopulation error but even then it is literally orders of magnitude between the Morgans and many other type coins. Has anyone else hesitated in buying a non toned non dmpl and otherwise common Morgan for this reason?

 

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I am of the opinion that Morgan Dollars are the most overpriced coin (except key dates, rare mintmarks, etc). From an investment standpoint, I stay away from them. I think the market for them is a bubble. Not to mention that it seems to be the most popular counterfeit. Now if you get enjoyment out of just buying and owning them, that's different. Sometimes enjoying ownership of a coin is as valuable to someone as their actual worth.

 

Demand is key in numismatics. Many people want Morgans and that keeps the prices high. Common Morgans have maintained numismatic value even with falling silver prices over the past year or so. People like big silver coins, and that probably won't change. TC

 

Name one other coin from the 19th century that was stored by the hundreds of millions in Treasury vaults for decades and decades. Name one other coin from any time period that produced as many DMPL & PL coins as the Morgan dollar.

Chris

 

I'm a big fan of the Morgan and not afraid to admit it. I truly prefer silver to gold and the Morgan offers me a large silver coin, with a beautiful obverse of Ms. Liberty in a wide variety of dates, mint marks and conditions. It was minted at a time when the United States was still growing and starting to come into it's own. Sure many of the coins were minted and stored at various government locations, but many of them were also circulated in the west and were preferred over paper currency.

No one really knows how many of each date and mint mark remain because of the massive melts. It's a coin that collectors of all means can enjoy too.

 

I think that's painting with an awful broad brush. 1st, morgans were very popular in the west where banks and paper currency were not trusted. Second, the U.S. Treasury had to purchase $2-4 million of silver per month and mint them into dollars. I think it's fair to say that the supply far outstripped the demand. There were only about 58 million people living in the U.S. at the time. $1 dollar in 1878 is equivalent to $23.26 today when adjusted to inflation. I'm not claiming the coin was a huge success, but they were popular in some parts of the country, $1 had a lot more buying power in 1878 than it does today, and there are ~5X more people living in the U.S. today than in 1878.

 

When I asked the question I was hoping to hear personal stories or opinions about buying Morgans. I thought I was clear about my personal understanding of the free market. I am not asking whether the coins are above or below market value I'm asking has anyone ever looked at the population reports and held off buying Morgans because of the coin populations.

 

I would like to retract my comment about Morgan prices being a "bubble". In a bubble, prices are overinflated and when the bubble pops a lot of value is lost. I don't think this will happen with Morgans. I just think their prices will remain flat/stable for a long time. Therefore my sentiment remains that they are not a good investment. Given the population numbers, melt value vs market value, popular coin to counterfeit, etc, I just don't think they will bring a good return on investment from here on out. Besides, there are plenty of other coins that have greater potential, IMO.

 

does anyone know of any factual literature about which years and mintmarks were melted down? i would be interested in hunting down the ones that appear to be mid to high mintages (ie ~20ish million) but maybe only a million are left floating around.

 

Are you looking for a bargain? If so, then if the answer to your question is published you're too late.

 

Ummm, no. I was more interested in seeing how they choose which coins to melt and sell to Europe, and what that left circulating. Oh, and by the way, it is "you ARE too late," not "your".

 

I knew the correct spelling. I'm usually the one noticing those types of mistakes by others. I was just typing so fast that I somehow confused them. I stopped pointing it out to others because some get offended (not me by the way).

 

it was satire really. like, you were pointing out that i thought i had some get rich scheme that was published for all the world to see, but, at the same time, you couldn't see your own incorrect word choice. not meant to be offensive, it was funny.

 

If you go to coinfacts, they have estimated survival rates
http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/7082?redir=t

 

great article. would love to read some more released by the gubmint

 

They did not document which coins were melted under the Pittman Act.