Buy raw and get 'em graded, or buy graded???

Hey all! New member here and I am just getting into buying nice Morgans. I want to have a collection of graded and slabbed Morgans, but I'm wondering if it is better to buy them already slabbed at whatever price they command, or can I get more bang for my bucks taking a chance on raw coins which I intend on sending off for grading. I see some really nice PL Morgans on ebay that are raw, for instance, and it is very tempting to try buying one and getting it graded myself to see if I scored. Is this a dangerous game? Advice from some coin veterans would be much appreciated!! Thanks!

 

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Definitely a dangerous game. My advice is always buy graded coins unless you know what you are doing and you see the coin in hand.

 

Are there really nice raw Morgans? Absolutely, but are there endless supplies of them sitting on ebay for just anyone to snap up, submit, and walk away doing the profit dance? No. Not many like leaving money on the table, and while there may seem to be all these "nice coins" available, many are raw for a reason. Morgans, including the so-called "better dates" are (generally speaking) very common coins, so with little effort you should be able to find most any date/mintmark you want residing comfortably inside a slab. If, sometime down the road when more experienced, you want to try your hand, that's fine, but considering your other thread, doing so now would be a fool's errand.

 

Buy raw, put 'em in Air-Tites.

 

Some problems.......people selling raw Morgans on eBay are not usually people looking to give away profit. Or ignorant folks. They are usually raw for a reason most likely because they are not financially wise to slab. Ie it isn't going to increase price much. Now if you are up to par with grading Morgans I myself sometimes try to pick dealers for coins that they conservatively grade and slab them myself. But to do this you need a good sense of the way the tpg companies grade and still I don't think it is very profitable. All in all in my opinion I think its almost impossible to consistently hit coins that score high grades from the slab companies. It is too hard for a beginner to grade through pictures IMHO. Now if you want to just hand pick your Morgans and slab each one without a care about money heck go for it. Just try to be picky remember Morgans are very popul#r and you want a real choice example.

 

buy slabbed.

 

Here is an example of something I am watching on E-biscuits (Ebay)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161313204901?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

I would ask how much you are spending on 1 coin ? if it's more than $200 I would buy slabbed for sure.

 

Look at the ad I posted a link to just above...whats the deal with coins like this? Seems REALLY nice to be "raw" all of these years...

 

so are you saying it was altered ? whizzed ? machined shiny ?

 

So far around the $120 range on slabbed coins with eye appeal that I personally like. I have yet to spend $$ on raw coins. But ads like this have me perplexed.

 

That's what I'm asking you gents sir.

 

you'd have to ask the Morgan dollar collectors here what they really think. I collect world coins mostly. I am happy to hear that you are at least looking for eye appeal. I would not spend huge amount of money on raw coins without knowing exactly what it's worth first. get many opinions first.

 

deep mirror proof like coins sure have great eye appeal. I think they will always be popular in the future.

 

Note that the seller does not show a reflectivity photo of the reverse. Ask yourself why. Also, the seller claims it is "high grade", but I don't think it would go higher than MS64 which isn't considered a high grade. They don't call it SleazeBay for nothing.

Chris

 

Buy them slabbed/graded. As others have said, there is a multitude of decent morgans for reasonable prices. Some years in MS64 you can find for $50 or less.

In addition, it will cost you a fee to join NGC to submit coins. Then there is the cost of shipping the coins to NGC. There is an $8 fee for each invoice, plus the grading fees ($30 per coin, or $17 economy with minimum of 5). Then you pay for shipping back, minimum of $24 dollars. I dont use PCGS, but I would imagine their fees are similar.

Unless you are buying high end coins, or if you have lots of disposable income, better to buy graded, especially as a novice.

Just my opinion.

 

This is the thing, a proof like Morgan that is frosty and a true dmpl coin are very tough to distinguish. I have sent Morgans of the same year as pictured with 5+ inches of reflectivity and got no plans or dmpl designation. One of the criteria is that a dmpl coin needs to show the same reflectivity throughout its entire field, both sides.

 

I buy nearly all Morgan's slabbed most with enough eye appeal for me already are. I've bought a lot of raw coins their usually early stuff out of houses estates etc. I very rarely see a raw Morgan that would grade higher then ms -63 anyway and most have problems. The exception is the GSA Morgans those you need to know how to grade em as a 1882-cc in ms 63 is common but in ms 66 is a much better coin

 

To my eye the coin in the listing has natural surfaces. However, I'd say it's MS62, 63 tops. It's common for dealers to send in rolls of Morgans to be graded with 63 or 64 as the threshold; those not making the cut are dumped onto ebay with vague descriptions ("high grade!").

Since you seem to have an eye on investment potential, that of MS63, 64, 65 and even 66 common date Morgans is essentially nil, unless you're buying the lower grades for their silver upside.