Can anybody explain what The Great Falls Collection is? Does it command a premium over the same Morgan in the same grade or is it like the Omaha Bank Hoard where there are so many coins the pedigree doesn't affect price. I am in the market to buy some nice high grade Morgan(s). Any suggestion? Thanks Henry Here is a link to a heritage auction I don't understand. Why did the 3 coins sell for so much when they are less on other websites?http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=430&Lot_No=5441
You came to the right place my friend. I can answer all of your questions. Let's start with why those three Morgans sold for a huge premium. As the owner of those coins, I can tell you that the premium is well deserved. I consider them three of the most beautiful coins in my collection. Here are Heritages photos compared to those of Anaconda's. The Great Falls Collection of Morgan Dollars is similar to the Battle Creek Hoard in that most of the coins have spectacular toning and the collection is named after it's geographical origin. However, I don't know where that is since there are several Great Falls in the United States. One key difference is that the entire Battle Creek collection was pulled from sealed mint bags. The story behind the Great Falls collection is that the collector hand picked examples with exceptional eye appeal and the collection is comprised of EOR toners & brilliant examples in addition to the bag toners. One of my long term collection goals is to reassemble the entire Great Falls Collection. Currently I own 15 coins. Here is a photograph of the collection which is made up of both original photos as well as photos taken by Brandon Kelley of Polaris Numismatics. If you would like to see more of the Great Falls Collection coins, please visit the reference page of Heritage's website. Here is the link. http://coins.ha.com/common/search_results.php?N=51+790+231+4294962980+4294962805# A few years ago, I created an NGC signature registry set that was a competition between the Great Falls Collection and the Battle Creek Collection in a game of basketball. To read more about it, please visit my link to my signature set. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Paul
sorry I did not mean to insult you as they are the prettiest coins I have ever seen. Just understand I am new to this and I am trying to learn about it.
The Great Falls collection, which came out in early 2007, IIRC, was a put-together set of mostly toned Morgan dollars. I believe the coins were given a NGC pedigree on the slab because of their rank in the NGC registry, if memory serves.
p.s. and from the looks of things (and my memory of the coins) it appears that Lehigh got the nicest of the lot too.
I will be looking for them and if I get one I will show you. One of the prettiest pedigrees out there.
I don't know what I wrote that would give you the impression that I was insulted. On the contrary, I was stoked that I got a chance to talk about one of my favorite collections. And yes, they are gorgeous. If you are considering purchasing rainbow toned coins, you need to understand that there is not safety net in the form of a price guide. The coins sell for significant premiums and you must have a thick skin to deal with all of the collectors who will call you a fool and predict impending doom for the toned coin market. EOR stands for End Of Roll toned. Answering your last question is very difficult and strikes at the heart of the toned coin market. An NGC MS64* coin can be much more expensive than an NGC MS65. The star designation indicated that the coin has exceptional eye appeal for the assigned grade and does not indicate PQ (Premium Quality). In fact, I have seen many star coins that were low end for the grade and were market graded examples due to the toning. However, the toning and eye appeal can drive a significant premium, often multiples of wholesale, and sometimes more than the price of the next highest grade. Lets use these Great Falls Morgans as examples. The first coin is an 1881-S MS64*. 1881-S Morgan Dollar NGC MS64* Great Falls Collection: $700 The coin has phenomenal bright toning with incredible luster and semi-prooflike surfaces. If not for the marks in the left obverse field in front of the neck and on Liberty's chin, this coin would have reached gem status. As it is, it is an MS64* that drives a premium of almost 15X wholesale. Now lets look at an MS65 Great Falls Morgan. 1881-S Morgan Dollar NGC MS65 Great Falls Collection: $100 I actually paid less than wholesale for this coin. It is a low end MS65 to be sure with a significant number of surface marks and a reverse patina that slightly mutes the luster. The problem is that this coin is very common in MS65 with a population of 87465/29541. Without the incredible toning of the first coin to separate it from the pack, it becomes as common as an MS69 ASE. It is important to recognize how eye appeal/toning can affect the price of a coin. However, you should be careful when making the distinction using something as arbitrary as the star designation. After all, not all star coins are created equal. Take a look at this 1881-S MS64*. 1881-S Morgan Dollar NGC MS64* Great Falls Collection: $125 With a price tag at exactly MS65 wholesale, I overpaid just a little because of the pedigree. The toning on the coin is very attractive but any premium over 2X wholesale is really pressing it. Please compare the difference between this coin and the MS64* that sells for 15X wholesale. Notice the extreme difference in luster, color, and overall eye appeal. The moral of the story is that each and every toned coin must be evaluated and priced based on the merit of it's eye appeal. More important is to recognize that the result of this evaluation will be different for every collector.
Mike, Remember, there is a salary cap in this basketball league. The (former) Sunnywood Collection would only be able to field one player.
That really clears up toned coins and pedigrees for me. Thank you. I said that I didn't want to insult you by picking coins that you had purchased as an example. It was killing me that those were selling for that when you could pick up MS66 Morgans no tone or pedigree for much less. But now I understand how toning is subjective and is based on eye appeal not grades.
Man, you take away all the fun. And BTW, looking at your set again, I think I'd spot you 25 against Great Falls.
