I having been collecting Lincoln cents for many years and last year I thought I would jump on the silver bandwagon. I thought it would be really cool to try to put together a series with only melt coins. This way I get the silver value and also the fun of searching instead of buying a $1000 bag. Well after spending another hour at the dealer I am ready to throw in the towel. The dealer called the day before and said that a guy brought in some Walking Liberty Halves and I should go through them before he sells them. So as I wrote another hour and one 33s and a 34d. I now think I have reached a point where I will not be able to find any other coins. So over 6 months I have a set of Mercury dimes with only 16d,21,21s and 26s missing. The Roosevelt is complete, very easy. The Washington quarters I am missing the 32d/s. I recently started the Walking Liberty and got down to 1927 missing the 38d only. I also have some of the early P mint ones. The Franklin series was also easy except for the 55P which I can not find. So I thought I would let you know that it is possible to get close to completion of several series with just a little effort. All coins were purchased at around 9-10x face and now I am was thinking Dollars. Do you think I can get far on the Peace and Morgans buying at melt?
randall: Nice to read about your junk silver finds. Obviously they were not all junk. The silver dollars will be more difficult, but: if they are truly unsearched, you may get lucky. Good luck and let us know how you do.
Congrats man, and keep it up. Best of luck with finishing or what you can do to finish the sets. Seems like you are having fun doing it, which is the most important thing IMHO. :thumb: Phoenix
I think you can get a large part of morgan and peace dollar collections without ever spending more than $20.
Most (but not all) morgans and peace dollars are only worth melt if they are less than AU condition, that is when you go to sell them to a dealer.
Thanks Gatzdon! Im on a new mission. Not too many dealers around here, most of my buying is on ebay, what would be the best way to search for a morgan in less than AU condition? Type something like "XF Morgan Dollar"?? Thanks Jim
Just look at the photos and bid on the morgans that show obvious wear or evidence of cleaning. Knowledgeable collectors won't bother with many of them and you can buy them for reasonable prices. Many collectors are very picky about quality. If you want to build a set of heavily circulated coins, you won't have much price competition and you still have the silver.
Good call, Ill have to browse ebay a little later tonight! Im off to search for "Photograde" at the local Barnes and Noble. Jim
You sometimes can't tell because of all of the praise the high grade uncirculated coins get, but some of us around here really like circulated coins too.
I agree, "perfect" coins are nice and I do collect them, but the is just something about a coin that has "been there"
