Need Advice on Morgan Journey

Greetings! Just signed up, and hoping someone can help. From my experience on other forums, I’m asking a question that has been asked 2.3 billion times. I hope some will be kind enough to re-direct me, or answer my question.

I’m considering pursuing Morgan dolllars. My focus is not yet in focus. Here’s what “parts of me” are thinking: I like coins with good eye appeal and strong details. I have read (different internet sources) that slabbed coins in MS63 are a good way to go, MS65 is a better way to go. I want to maintain some level of liquidity in case my “fever” subsides and I want to sell (not looking at collecting for profit, but addressing the historical possibility that I may be distracted by another shiny object). I like to touch the coin, hear it ring (slabbed coins won’t satisfy that “part.”) And “parts of me” like volume, but my budget would be better served by “junk grade” than a sizeable assortment of MS65’s.

So do I seek out raw Very Fine examples to “play with” and accumulate? Do I stick to something easier to sell? And would that be junk grade as bullion, or MS65-slabbed PCGS examples?

I suspect the answer has something to do with “whatever I like,” but seeking advice all the same. Thanks in advance.

 

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Hey, welcome to CoinTalk. Not really a Morgan aficionado, but from reading the forum, "Buy the coin, not the slab". Since you seem to like the tactile part of collecting, this should ring true to you. Seems like what you need to do is to learn how to grade. CoinTalk can help this, since we have a lot of GTG (guess the grade) posts. Also there are numerous books that do a pretty good job. After all this, frequenting E-bay, coin shops and coin shows can lead you to some very pretty Morgans for much less than those entombed.

 

No, I won’t say “whatever you like,” unless you are making a commitment to keep the coins. You mention liquidity, and given that is a factor, I would suggest getting the highest grade Common date coins that you can afford. The reasons for this are many: attractive common date Morgans in reasonable grades are plentiful, and affordable. Second, Morgans are extremely popular, and resell well. Third, it is possible to get gem grade Morgans in PCGS and NGC holders for a reasonable amount. I would recommend starting with the 1879s, 1880s, 1881s 1882s in a 64-65 grade, that has eye appeal. They are affordable, plentiful, and will give you a lot of satisfaction of ownership. Same goes for other common dates—-don’t worry about key or better dates, until you know the series well. As regards raw organs, that takes more experience in grading, and the ability to identify cleaned, and counterfeit coins. Just my two cents from a 45 year collector of the series. Good luck with it— Morgan Dollars are fun.

 

@TimeExposure

You say that you like to hear the ring of silver coins. The problem with this is that each time you drop the coins to listen to them, you risk damage that could reduce the value.

Chris

 

Most VF examples, slabbed, can be acquired for around $50 a coin. If you're market-conscious, and it seems you are, the best advice is to just get them in slabs, as those have the better-defined markets. If you're an aspiring collector, go for those "raw" VFs.

 

Ah, I meant flick with my thumb into the air and catch. Still not favorable to the preservation of the coin, I know...

 

Welcome to CT!!!

It sounds like you like to handle your coins. If this is the case and you want to collect Morgan Dollars I would buy raw circulated Morgans. This way you could handle them all you want to without devaluing them too much.

I would also suggest you get "The Guide Book to Morgan Silver Dollars" By David Bowers. It is a great resource for any new Morgan Collector with LOTS of info on these coin.

Have fun collecting and don't forget to post photos of your new acquisitions.

Mont.

 

I always wanted a Morgan. So I purchased cull coins and they were in better shape than I expected. I bought several. If nothing else,buying a few cull will give a better sense of grading difference between cull and graded coins.

 

To start I would grab one nice appealing 65 (dirt cheap right now in common dates) slabbed and another one raw that you can flip in your hand and carry around/use a pocket piece. You can even buy your pocket piece slabbed in somewhat high grade and crack it out. You can grab a 1921 in MS62-63 for like $35 and crack it out and watch it wear down over time.

Buy those two to start and see where you evolve from there. Just my opinion of course.

 

Don't forget, you can always by VF to XF in holders and break them out. I collect Morgans. I have quite a few. I gave up on collecting the entire series, but I will still buy ones that meet my eye.

I don't know what your budget is, so it's hard to give complete advice as your budget plays a big role. Coins in VF and XF will still have nice detail and you won't really hurt them if you handle them by the rims. I've recently been adding XF 1921 Peace Dollars to my collection. I own one in MS64, but I like the high relief and some of the XF coins can have great eye appeal. You may want to do that in the Morgan series.

Once you've read all the advice, maybe you can clarify your thoughts on Morgans. For instance, what would you like to pay per coin?

 

I just joined the forum with questions on Morgans, and my interests are close to those of the original poster here, but with a few key (and obvious) differences. I'd like to collect, over the next couple of years, the entire Morgan series. I'm after one of each year and mint, which looks to be a total of 99 coins (if I'm counting right?). I'll be wanting all of them graded and slabbed by PCGS. For the rarer years/mints, I'll have to settle for VF or less. For the really common ones, I want MS 62+.

I've started at the beginning, and have two of the 1878s, Philadelphia and Carson City, with San Francisco (MS-64) on the way. As you can see, the Philly one is graded by NGC; that was my goof when I bought it. Eventually, I'll send it to PCGS to re-grade and slab for consistency's sake.

Does this sound like a worthwhile endeavor? Would such a collection be worth more than the sum of its parts? I'll be honest, part of my motive is that this could be a good way for a spendthrift to save money; I may well be interested in selling it once complete.

 

The VF's (I would do XF-AU) would actually be the easiest to sell and have the lowest possible loss on your purchase price.

 

Another option is a grade set. A run of dollars grading from Poor-1 to AU-58, or en into Uncirculated grades MS-60 to MS-67.

 

It's only a worthwhile endeavor if it's one that you are interested in taking on. Anything can be worthwhile on an individual basis.

For the would the collection be worth more than the sum of its parts question...unless it's a world class set then no. Ultimately if/when you were looking to sell the complete set you'd have a few options. Sell all the coins individually for the most you're able to get for each or sell it all as a set for less per coin overall since whoever is buying it is likely going to take the time to sell each coin individually themselves. There isn't a big market for people looking to buy a complete set of Morgans to keep for themselves since 1. it's a ton of money with so many coins 2. a lot of the fun is the satisfaction of building the set 1 at a time and 3. Everyone has different tastes with coins and likes to pick ones that speak to them.

For the "good way for a spendthrift to save money part"...I agree that's it's a store of wealth and if you're spending money on coins that you would normally spend on junk then it's a great financial decision. If you're expecting to profit then I'd say you may want to reconsider since that's far from certain. In a 2 year timeframe you'd most likely lose money because no matter which route you go it costs money to sell coins. Think of coins like a mutual fund. You give a mutual fund $100 and they take $5 right away in the form of an upfront load and $95 gets invested. You buy a coin with a value of $100 and sell it the next day for the same $100 you only net ~$90 after the fees (unless you sell on craigslist or something but I'd argue the hassle of that and time it takes costs more anyways). So the instant you buy a coin (assuming it's market price which of course is no exact science) you've paid an invisible 10% backend load because that's what it will cost you to sell in the future. So now in your 2 year timeframe values for the coins you're purchasing need to go up 10% just to break even when you sell.

That's a longer post than what I originally intended, hopefully it's helpful. I would say absolutely go for the set if it's something you're going to enjoy doing and if it's an added bonus that you spend less on other things great. But if the only interest is profiting I would find something else.

 

All depends on your budget!

From personal experience, I wasted a lot of time and energy collecting VF/XF Morgans at semi key dates, than rather saving money for a couple more months and buying a better coin to keep forever.

For example, instead of buying $40-100 Morgans every month, wait 4-6 months and buy the $300-500 Morgans that will keep their value, especially the nicer coins and key dates. Just an opinion.