Any beginners advice for toned/blast morgans?

I would greatly appreciate Any advice for a beginner interested in getting a few good examples of certified toned/rainbow or "blast white" Morgans?? I have the redbook & Mr. Bowers books on Morgans & rare coins, but I do not have a lot of expeience with US coins since up to now I focused mainly on ancients. What should I look for?? And what should I look out for?? Thanks, Bill

 

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Take a look at this thread a few lined down! Also there are some great links listed in that thread ...

http://www.cointalk.com/t114270/

 

Thanks, I just noticed them, I guess my search-fu is weak today.............

 

Just be aware of the pitfalls. A lot of the toned coins are AT. And the blast coins are dipped. You have to be selective.

 

Toning is very much a personal preference.
Right now coins with natural rainbow toning are very popular.

I on the other hand prefer blast white for my uncirculated coins and light tattletale gray for my circulated coins.
This thinking is pretty much "old school".
Of course there has to be no evidence of cleaning.
And, yes, I understand that blast white uncirculated coins, particularly from the 19th century, most likely means they were cleaned at one time.
But if PCGS or NGC will grade them I can live with that.

 

I'd agree with above. Lots of Morgans have been messed with. Some don't mind owning such coins, but do go in with your eyes open, instead of in make-believe land. As with all coin collecting, start slow, look at lots of coins, talk to lots of people.

There are a lot of opinions out there. A lot of coins will be liner coins where the opinion might be split 60/40 or 80/20. It tends to be the obvious cases that are 100/0 coins where almost everyone agrees on dipping, or accelerated toning, or other forms of enhancement.

 

In the early 1880's the San Francisco Mint produced some of the most spectacular Morgans out of all the Mints. Some were Proof Like with frosted devices, some had booming luster with crisp detailed lettering and devices. These are also very affordable and have not lost value.

For over all rarity, any Morgan from the Carson City Mint followed by New Orleans are always collectible.

Be certain the coins have been graded by PCGS, NGC, ANACS, or ICG. If you see a Morgan graded by any other off the wall company, you will in most cases get an over graded example.

There are many pit falls, but if you stay with the major houses and search recent sale prices, you won't fall off the mark.

Happy Collecting

 

Don't be in a hurry, look at a lot of them before you buy. I have a toned one, a DMPL one, and I'm still waiting for the right "blast" Morgan (it will have to have mammoth luster).

This is the toned one:

 

Never buy raw Morgans on eBay unless you know the seller! Too often, the coins have been improperly cleaned, the seller manipulates the photos to hide problems or the photos are just plain lousy to hide the aforementioned.

When you see a "blast white" Morgan, it doesn't necessarily mean that the coin has been dipped. The Treasury Department stored hundreds of millions of Morgans in their vaults for decades and they never saw the light of day until they began releasing them in the 60's & 70's.

Below is one of my favorite blast white Morgans.

Chris

 

That is a really nice cc. Dare i guess pcgs ms 65?

 

The hardest part is to be patient. There are millions of these coins out there and patience is the key to developing a collection your happy with.

Also - READ READ READ.

Ruben

 

I always perfer the S coins, just for that reason. The heck with rarity I love the art. Less expensive, more beautiful and equally historic coins...I'll take the ole granite ladies children any day!

Ruben

 

You've got it! It's also a VAM-4, Doubled Dash, Hot 50. When I bought it out of a Registry Set, it was unattributed. I knew it had a dash which was common on many Morgans that were struck from 1880-1885, but I didn't realize that it was the VAM-4 until I got it in-hand. Since the seller was an acquaintance from the NGC forums, I contacted him to ask if he was aware of the attribution because it added about $1,000 to the value. He replied that he was aware of it, but that he had made a decent profit from it so it didn't matter. The following January, I took it to the PCGS table at FUN to have it reholdered for the designation. Cha-ching!

Chris

 

Agreed! The 80-S, 81-S & 82-S were particularly noted for their excellent strikes.

Chris

 

Nice - let me see what I can dig up...BRB!

 

OK - Not an S but

 

BTW

http://www.cointalk.com/t44131/

I'm feeling more and more like the Forum historian

 

You're doing a great job, Ruben. Keep up the good work!

Below is an 85-O with a better-than-average strike. So many of the New Orleans Morgans had a weak strike. I've heard it said that it was because they were trying to prolong the life of the dies.

Chris

 

I have/ or HAD/ something like that... One Sec...





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