Just what I need another interest. Ive gone from Walkers to American Eagles to Proof Bens to of all things Coin Cubes (I know Coin Cubes) Now GSA Morgans. Ive been reading up and find the GSA program fascinating. Imagine if they had the program like that today wow but back then shrug ho hum. First I would like to know what I should know and second I see ebay listings of unopened white boxes, is this a scam like unsearched rolls? or did they collectors put them away unopened? I just cant see that happening Thanks for the info that's coming Cant wait.
My take on the unopened boxes is they are probably legitimately unopened (unlike the CC end bankrolls that are scammy as can be) but the seller probably knows the source of them and that they are very highly likely 82,83 or 84 and also very likely you won't get a high enough grade to justify the cost. Basically it's a gamble and not worth it imo. 19 times out of 20 you will get a coin you could have bought for $200, and paid well over $300 for it. I'd also be skeptical about the feedbacks that say "got a 78 should be at least 65, thanks!". Just seems fishy to me. Welcome to the GSA CC club though, they are addicting.
I won't say such unopened boxes don't exist because some do. But ebay has been buried in the listings for them for at least 15 years that I know of. And there sure as heck aint that many of them out there ! Ya see, the boxes can be easily duplicated. As for what ya need to know, there's a ton of stuff, far more than I could ever supply here. But if you do enough Google searches you can find most of it.
I would highly suggest to you the book 'Carson City Morgan Dollars, Featuring the Coins of the GSA Hoard'. It can be found on Amazon and eBay very easily. It's full of really good information.
I don't know if it's still up but a couple months ago there was a listing of 10 carefully opened original boxes for $1k on the bay. The seller even said they could "easily be resealed" or something to that effect
I would only trust the unopened boxes that are blue boxes with registered tape on them. Even some very astute GSA collectors have opened some un opened GSA's only to find a dealer sticker on the plastic.
You have a better chance of getting a nice ungraded GSA on Ebay than buying an unopened one and getting a nice coin. There is a reason the nice ones are expensive! And once you open the box there's no reviving Shrodinger's cat.
Some combination of steam and freeze spray will get you through most of the adhesives sealing these boxes. Buy the coins so you can enjoy them, not wonder what they might be. If you want original shipping packaging, buy it opened as a piece of exonumia to go along with the coins.
