Need some Morgan collecting advice

I'm about 40 coins into a 98 coin Whitman Morgan set. It is worth noting that i bought about 20 of them raw, and 20 slabbed....but i have cracked open (Gasp!) all of them except one and they all live happily together in my album. So far, all of the coins fall between MS 60-65. As you could probably guess, i have very few of the scarcer/highly valuable ones. But, i am getting ready to purchase more of them soon.

My goal for the collection is two fold, i do love the coins and enjoy collecting them but also want to have the collection to retain or grow in value for my children that i will one day pass them down to.

So, here is the part where i need advice. Two questions:

1) Given i love my coins in the album (key factor for me) but also don't want to be foolish with very expensive coins... what is the recommendation of which coins to not jail break? Thus far, its just been any coin i believe to be worth over $300 has been my rule. Interested to hear your opinions.

2) My goal is to hold out/save up for even the most expensive coins and get them in MS. I realize i will likely fall short on a few of them. That said, any advice on approach based on the fact that i want to maximize future value?

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

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The low mintage high value coins are the ones that should be certified by a third party grader for authenticity 1893s / 1901 etc ( A lot of these get counterfeited ) recommending NGC / PCGS - It would be very disheartening to pass your collection on to the offspring with counterfeits in it. if your not doing varieties which it sounds like you are not. You are looking at under around 10 coins that should be slabbed for authenticity ... the rest have at the crack - Do not be bashful about buying a cleaned certified coin as it will be all you will find in a price range you can afford but the authenticity of the coin is key on some of these

 

First - I wouldn't use Whitman for that set. The large coin albums I have from Whitman are covered with Scotch Tape.

 

Personally, I do not believe in cracking out Morgans to do an album. There are plenty of raw Morgans available for most dates, once one knows the series well enough to avoid counterfeit coins.

 

What's done is done and can't be undone butbits best not to use a Whitman's album. If you must use an album then you should use a Dansco. The Whitman is more likely to turn the coins a darker, toned color. Thst will lower the value.

Any highly counterfeited or low mintage dates should be slabbed.

 

Your "over $300" rule for slabbed coins is not a bad one. If you heirs get ready to sell, I can tell you from experience that they will probably get ripped off when they sell the raw coins. Slabbed coins are much easier to sell at fair prices than the raw ones. This is especially true from non-collector sellers.

This is not just because some dealers have low ethics. It's also because a dealer has to figure in the grading and shipping charges to get coins slabbed if that is needed for the dealer to resell the coins at a fair price. They also have to figure in the risk factor if the coins don't come back in the grades they expected. When a coin is slabbed by PCGS or NGC that sets a floor for the value, even if the piece is over graded in the holder.

The idea of getting a complete Morgan Dollar set in Mint State is unrealistic unless you are very wealthy. I built three "Unc-ish" sets from collectors when I was dealer. Some coins, like the 1893-S, are going to run you 5-figures in a Choice AU grade that doesn't "look bad" beside the Mint State coins. There are also some dates, 1884-S comes immediately to mind, that are inexpensive in AU and wicked expensive in any Mint State grade.

As a collector, I got away from albums in the 1970s. Since then my collection has been "in my head." I've learned to appreciate the coins one at a time in their slabs. I know that filling holes and seeing them all without blanks gives you a lot of satisfaction, but sadly, those days are passed if you are collecting expensive coins.

 

I'm not an album collector. I have seen people in your situation take pictures of their coins. Then use a properly scaled printout of the higher value slabbed coins in their album as fillers. That way they can quench their OCD and not need to crack those coins out of their TPG plastic.

 

Yes, I have done this with my Roman emperor collection. Most of the coins are raw with a few in slabs. I take pictures of the slabbed coins and put them in a 2X2 in the storage box. Some day I might crack out some of the cheaper coins, because slabbing has not been as important for these coins, although more collectors are going to it.

 

I have an extensive Morgan Dollar collection with both raw (plastic air-tites) and slabbed examples with most identified by the VAM number. I am also working on a date set Dansco in MS condition with all but the 93, 94 and 95 holes. EF to AU will have to suffice for those. I'm also working (slowly now) on the complete set in the 2 volume Dansco with all coins in AG/G to F. I can't stand looking at an MS something coin next to a VG coin and I certainly cannot afford what @johnmilton accomplished above.

 

I didn't accomplish paying for the sets; someone else did. I just put them together. The sets included in the 1895 Proof. Like the 1907 High Relief $20 gold, paying for that coin is harder than finding it.

 

Yes, I did interpret your post as built for others. Still an accomplishment in my opinion...

 

I am getting pretty good at grading, and unless its a VERY good fake i should be able to catch it. But i buy from mostly reputable sources as an extra layer of protection. That said, i have been able to buy graded coins for raw like prices...so i dont mind it and just crack them out. My local LCS typically doesn't even care, he will sell me a MS 63 raw or graded for just about the same price most of the time. I look for coins that i think are under graded either way.

 

Do you have any evidence of this on the newer albums? I have not had any issues and the newer albums are supposed to specifically built not to do that. I like the look better than Dansco, and have several friends that use Whitman with no issues.

It makes me nervous though lol