I was looking at my Red Book today and was suprized to see a signficant increase in most US Peace dollars from one grade to another. I know this is common knowlege but I was truly blown away by:goofer:, for example a 1925 S MS-63 to a 64. So I went down to my local coin shop and found two 1925 S. One graded AU58 for a retail of $49 and another MS 61/62 at $69. They were not slabbed but looking at them I decided the grade was close enough. My question is when do most collectors decide it's worth the chance to buy a coin and submitt it for a grade or crack it out of their case and resubmit and hope for the best? I typically would think of a couple reasons to submit, low mintage, valuable errors, and profit gain by gambling on a chance of an upgrade. I did not purchase either coin but was tempted, he had several Peace dollars dates that were in that MS 62/63 range I might just make a list and see what ones might get that upgrade and take a chance. I look more at US cents and Morgan's and have not spent that much time with Peace Dollars. Sorry, this is more thinking out loud and brain storming. :rolling:
I have bought a select few slabbed Peace dollars in the past couple of months that I thought were under-graded. When I posted pics on CT, everyone who responded in guessing the grade gave them at least 1-2+ grades higher. I love the Peace series. IMO, it is under-rated and under-valued. TC
My rule of thumb is AU, on low mintage, and/or keydates; or better is worth the cost of submitting it to a TPG for grading and slabbing.
In general coins are not considered worth slabbing unless the cost to get them slabbed is under 10% of the coin's value. That means a value of at least $200 (and I personally use $300). I find Peace dollars difficult to grade. The details of the design are "soft" to start with. That makes it hard for me to grade. I tend to undergrade them which so far has been nice when I send them in for slabbing. I sent in two of the keys (1921 & 1928) for grading expecting AU-something. They both came back MS-62. Not great but better than expected.
I sent a 1924-S in to ANACS thinking maybe MS60. It came back MS63. I think maybe because so many were weakly struck even some of the higher grades are mushy to begin with.
Just throwing this out - It's not too much off-topic. I've seen a TON of threads about MS-63 vs. MS-64 and I won't even mention all the MS-69 and "MS-70 is fiction" threads. But I haven't seen much on what separates a MS-60 from a MS-61. Or a MS-61 from a MS-62. These grades seem to be the "orphans" of the grading system. They're out there, but no one talks about them much!
Probably because they are more of 'in between' grades and that many people just don't care. If the coin isn't a key date, why waste your time even worrying about what makes a coin a MS61 when you are buying MS65's? I went over some differences between MS60-61-62 coins in my Grading The Morgan Dollar thread. Honestly though, if it isn't a key or semi key, and the values aren't really high in 61 or 62, then a lot of people will not worry about how to grade them. In most series, the above grades just aren't as important as the higher ones.
I've often found it fascinating to look at the price differential among the same coin in different grades. Essentially it boils down to supply and demand within the market which accounts for this difference. Morgan dollars are reknowned for this. You wanna see a price jump? Check out the jump in value of an 1892 S Morgan between EF 40 ($350) and AU 50 ($2000).
MS-60, -61 and -62 are generally considered undesirable. Why? Mostly because they have lots of bag marks in the prime focal areas, like the cheek and the fields. It's MS-65 before bag marks have to be minor and in the less noticeable areas like the hair. So a MS-60, -61 or -62 is bought when financial considerations are the most important factor. Or in my case, when I already had a raw coin from long ago, had it slabbed and that's what it got. As said many times in here, an AU-55 or -58 is often more desirable than a MS-60, -61 or -62.
I took Tmoneyeagles advice and just registered for the heritage auction site just to see what coins have been going for at what grades. I saw this coin and was surprised at the grade. http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Inventory_No=216471019 Not sure if I did the attachment correct.
If you "take a closer" look function and really zoom in on the obverse and reverse, I believe this coin should not have graded above AU58 maybe MS61, On the obverse, there are several scratches/dings on the eye,face, 9 oclock field, and the crown looks very beat up, the reverse, couple die cracks which are common on Peace Dollars, the eagle's breast looks scratched in several places. However, I am not an expert but there seems to be some serious scratches and dings on this coin for a MS-64 coin.
The 25-S was a notiriously weak mintage. It is one of, if the the rarest, Peace Dollars in gem condition, which explains the huge jump from 63 to 64. Leeway is usually given this coin when graded.
Thanks for the responses everybody. The coin dealer I go to the most has two of the 1925 S, one is in AU58 shape for $49 the other is MS62ish is $69. I just might take a chance and go for the 62 and see what happens. I think the MS-62 is in over all better shape than the heritage MS-64. The Peace dollar is starting to catch my attention. I originally was going to try and complete my CC Morgan set but the Peace dollars are starting to grow on me. Thanks again.
