$1,000 To Spend -- Best Morgan Dollar for the buck ?

Buy the coin not the promotion

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Make sure that what ever you choose that it has CAC bean.

 

Don’t get a condition rarity, and don’t get a key date as they keep going down in value. Actually just don’t spend $1000 on a Morgan at all

 

If it were me, I'd look for an 81-cc in 64 or 65. Love me some Carson's.

 

About 10+ years ago, a friend of mine needed some money quickly. The IRS wanted $1,200 because he "made a mistake on his Return". Being an CPA, I asked him to let me look at his return and all the "Demands for Payment" they had sent to him. Having worked with taxes for 30+ years, I was concerned that it might be a scam..., well, it wasn't a scam. I served as his agent, even though I did not so his return to verify the debt, requested a settlement, and stop the letter writing. We settled on $1,000, only if a certified check or a credit card payment was received in 10 days. After the phone call, I told him the result of my conversation with the IRS. He told me that he didn't have the money, but would I buy something from his coin collection. (I'm glad the IRS didn't know about that or they would have taken it.) He told me he had a set of 3 Morgan dollars on one slab. It was a collection of 3 CC coins. There was an 1882CC, 1883CC, and an 1884CC, all grade MS65 by NGC. I told him I would give him $1,000, cash. He said yes and I paid the IRS. I liked them. Did I do a good deal?

 

Can you elaborate a bit on why one should stay away from condition rarity and also why Key Dates are still going down in value (I believe though at a slower pace than in the past, no ?) ?

Seems you are bearish price-wise on MSDs, which I don't necessarily disagree with. Just want to get more of your insight.

Are there ANY MSDs you like ?

 

I'll await the experts on Morgans to chime in, but from my POV, yes you did.

At current price levels, it appears the prices for the 3 coins are about $350, $300, and $750 (I'm guestimating from current auctions, best to check recent sales on Ebay or HA). So that is above $1,000. But more importantly, I would venture to guess that 10 years ago the prices for all 3 were HIGHER than that so you may have gotten as much as $2,000 in coins at the time.

Most importantly, you liked them and you helped out a friend. Nice job !

 

With a bit more work....it appears that you bought a "Wild West Collection" 3-coin package where all 3 coins were graded as MS65 by NGC. They were all in 1 plastic case.

The coins sold for about $1,400 8-10 years ago on Heritage

https://www.ha.com/c/search-results...f+3&Ntk=SI_Titles-Desc&ic10=ArchiveTab-071515

 

I think what he's trying to say is, be smart about it. I generally disagree with his assessment of key dates (they will always be popular, and generally tend to outperform common date or lower quality coins), however I agree with his point about conditional rarity. These coins are only rare because they are high grade - any time a new bag or hoard is discovered, there's a potential that these coins are no longer rare.

The key point with a Morgan purchase, like any other coin, is from your own motto: "Quality over Quantity."

Don't try to judge the market. Don't try to buy a coin because someone else likes it, or its popular now.

Buy a coin because *you* like it! Buy a coin because that's what you want, and it fits into the set that you are building. That's the most important thing - and then if you happen to loose a hundred bucks when it's time to sell, it isn't a big deal at all. You got at least that much enjoyment out of owning it! And that, Mr. Bond Villian, is the difference between a collector and investor.

 

The pops can only increase, and values always go down as a result. I watched MS-65 1880 S Morgans decrease in value from $200 to $90 in the past decade. BU 1912 S Nickels decreased in value substantially once BU rolls were discovered and submitted.

In popular series, the key dates are not that rare. The internet has made it obvious how common they are. Prices have dropped as a result.

Truly rare key dates will hold their values.

MSD?

 

Sorry.....Morgan Silver Dollars.

 

In that case, if I had $1000 and had to spend it on a Morgan, I would get the 1900 O/CC, or the 1884 CC and 1903 O (for the treasury release story only), or I would look for an MS-68 1880/1/2 S in a 67 slab. Or something >MS-65 DMPL. Other than that, the series is boring to me.

 

Thanks, I have an 1884-CC.....the Treasury Story with the 1903-O is a nice story.

What's really interesting is that the 1893-S Morgan was priced about the same as the 1903-O in 1960 or so. The 1903-O collapsed...lost about 85% of her value....slowly made it back over the decades and it's more-or-less back to where it started, I guess. But the 1893-S has become the key date for the entire collection and sells for $200,000 or so.

 

I must agree on the 1900 O/CC great choice.

 

There are only 10000 fewer minted than the 1894, yet it goes for oodles more. That coin’s value is based on a bubble of hype, nothing more.

 

An 1880-CC rev. of 78 MS64 has potential for a price rise and is a key date gaining in popularity.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with this comment, plus the few others that have recommended the 1900 O/CC. I think these are two great coins with lots of potential going forward.

 

10000 fewe seems alot to me......if the surviving population is in the dozens or so that's different than 10,000 fewer vs. 50,000 for the 1894, right ?

 

BTW....looks like the price decline for a MS 1903-O in 1962-63 was closer to 95-97% than 85%, FYI.

Wow....

 

1893 S: 100,000 minted
1894: 110,000 minted

Both have roughly the same number of survivors, which is at least 10,000 examples each