GSA CC Morgans seem to be quite available. I love the story of how the government "found" these coins. I would like to take a peak myself and see what else us coin collectors can "find" in goverment vaults. Some of them are graded by NGC (tape around the plastic holder). Most of these grade anywhere from MS63 to MS65. I have also run across slabs with the GSA notation on them. I really don't like the GSA holders and would rather have them in a NGC, ICG, etc., slab for convenient storage, certification, and stability (all things being environmentally equal). Question...would the value of the Morgan CC coin go down because there is no GSA box/plastic/COA?...or would it pretty much stay the same if a NGC certified/taped GSA Morgan were replaced with a standard NGC/PCGS/ICG slab...with or without a GSA notation? Thanks
As a general rule the coins in the original GSA holders sell for more - they are quite popular. I collected them myself for many years. But when I started buying them - they were not so popular and prices were very reasonable. But like anything else that's popular - the more folks want them - the more prices rise. Of course when the popularity begins to wane - prices tend to fall rather quickly. By the way - should you ever get to take that walk through the Mint's vaults - you won't find much. The vaults were cleaned out cleaner than a whistle back in the '70s & '80s. There are no more lost & forgotten hoardes or bags of coins to be found. The govt. made sure of that once they realized what collectors would pay for them.
That's for sure. In fact, shortly after that they begin mass producing modern commems...the GW halves in 1982 then the Statue of Liberty coinage in 1986 and then...and then...and then...and you know the rest of that song Regarding GSA's, they tend to bring more in the black box. I remember 10-12 years ago the common dates (1882, 3 & 4) bid for $55 and I bought/sold literally hundreds of these for $45 and sold them for $50. Nowawdays I'll buy just about anything at $165 (current MS60 bid for the above mentioned dates) and sometimes more! If it were me, I'd leave them in the black box and not bother certifying them at all unless they'll grade 64 or higher...it's not worth it for coins that will only grade 62 or 3, IMHO. Just as a side note. Tonight at the local coin club meeting, a dealer had two of these...both 1882's...I asked him what he needed for them and he said $150 each...(insert SLURPING noise here). Sometimes you just can't get the money out of your pocket fast enough. Nick
I recently traded one of the last GSA's I owned as part of a deal for that fabulous French 1/2 ecu I posted about. It was an '81-CC. I had graded the coin myself as MS63 DMPL. Well the dealer I traded the coin to sent it to NGC - NGC matched my grade. But the funny part is - I paid $160 for that coin on ebay 2 yrs ago. I picked it out from an auction with lousy pics but an accurate description. Talk about can't get the money out fast enough Care to guess what the dealer is asking for it now with the NGC sticker around the GSA holder ? Would you believe $839 as a starting bid ?
The best GSA material is the non CC coins. These are much rarer and bring a substantial premium. A few months ago, I picked up a 1921-P Morgan in the GSA holder in a nice AU. The coin brought over $200 at the Baltimore show. If it had been cracked out of the case, it is valued at about $15
