Who has a completed Morgan dollar collection here?

It's an expensive proposition, especially if trying to complete a set in choice grades. I've pretty much got 90% of them but what's slowing me down is accumulating really fine examples of duplicate dates/mints and varieties within those dates. It's like being an addict for collecting fine examples. I just can't pull the trigger on the rarest dates/mints when the coins are garbage condition. I'm guessing I'll never fill those holes or even care to. Anyone else understand my thinking?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I knew long ago that I wouldn't (and most likely couldn't) do a complete Morgan collection. So I defined my own set...

- at least 1 coin from each year (28 years)
- at least 1 coin from each mint CC, O, (P), D, S
- and, because I am from New Orleans, all of the New Orleans minted
- no varieties, VAMS, or whatevers
- condition: affordable

30 coins
- 1878 CC (1 coin, 1 year)
- 1879 O thru 1904 O (26 coins, 26 years)
- 1921 (P), D, S (3 coins, 1 year)

 

I like Corgi above, realized that it is very unlikely I will ever afford to complete and full morgan set in MS So what I did 1st was this...
A Morgan Date set. One morgan for each date and with the exception of 3 coins (93,94 and 95) In mint state (though the registry uses a few xfs with higher point totals then the MS coins i have in those dates 79s rev of 78 and 83cc off the top of my head)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/328075/

Once I had filled the date set I have added other morgans of the same date but different mint marks (slowly filling as complete a morgan set as i can)
that can be seen here.
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/414414/

Now in this process I had purchased a few PL/DMPL morgans and am presently working on filling a PL date set that I don't think is even actually possible in some dates for most people anywhere but I do what I can
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/414416/

At this point I will continue to work to fill the full set with PL examples where I can but will accept xf and AU coins for most of the remaining slots (as affordability allows)

 

I am putting together a low grade set. All I need is 8 more coins and all of my Whitman’s folders will be full.

 

I have all but the three very rare ones.
Here is my complete CC set.

 

I prefer all coins that had to work for a living. The Morgan dollar develops some character after a bit of circulation. And the details stand out better than on a blast white coin.

 

Like this. Here is my set put together back in the 70's

 

WOW! Impressive! Spectacular! Succulent! DAM, I think I just felt it move!
Thanks for sharing "HAMBONE"! What an incredible set! Again WOW!!!!!!

 

I built two sets for costomers when I was a dealer. It's easy to do. All it takes is money. Some other series sets are much harder.

 

What's the fun in that for the collector? It's the journey, the highs and lows of expectations and mixed results, wins and misses. They missed out. That being said, I'm not going to restore some classic car myself. That would take talent.

 

let me tell you.. Talent yeah some.. but 99% it's money lol My baby sat in a garage for 20+ years... waiting for the money to buy a new crate engine... Now she's on the road again after all that time

 

I too enjoy the grey look. It is distintive and appealing.

 

I am an odd collector. I much prefer looking at what I have and learning as much about it as I can. "The chase" gets very tiring for me, especially when "the chase" includes auctions which I dislike greatly. I have been bidding in auctions for over 40 years, and I can count on one hand when I got "a bargain."

 

I attended major shows to find the key dates. Higher income people sometimes don’t have the time to do that. They also trusted my advice.

Local small shows usually don’t have key dates like the 1893-S and 1895-P. You find those coins quickly at many major shows, but price and grading accuracy can be an issue.

 

There are deals to be had at your very fingertips on eBay. Sometimes though, you get the bull, sometimes you get the horns. I've gotten it both ways. Sometimes you have for to look at seller history, the quality of the photos, and many times you just go on luster of a coin and your gut feel. Good photos tell the tale most of the time. There is a ton of cleaned junk out there and that's what I really try to avoid. I really only collect silver dollars, Morgans, and after a while you just get an eye for what you are looking for. Sometimes though the seller is just technologically challenged and has really bad photos and that's when it becomes a crap shoot. Pays off sometimes, other times, it's a return for refund. I'm not shy about that when it's an egregious photo mispresentation.

 

I'm not really sure what auctions you participate in. I'm a confirmed sniper, I don't bid any other way, I learned very quickly that you schedule your time to do that or go home without bidding at all and helps keep the bidding up down and additional attention to the auction as well. It's usually worth the effort. Not sure conventional auctions allow that but I really don't care.

 

I am a want list collector who plans to buy some things years in advance. I hate eBay because of snipping. I refuse to participate there because of it. EBay is dead to me. When you follow a lot for number of days, end up ahead when it closes and then get outbid by a nominal amount (e.g. $5 on $3,000) with no recourse, it stinks. Life is too short to put up with that crap. It’s happened to me three times, and my response is “never again.”

I have mostly used Heritage and Stacks. In both of those ventures, you run into bidders who will pay any price to get a lot. Previous results, price guides or anything else does not matter to them. They keep bidding until they get it.

I would much rather work with dealers to fill my want lists. I buy it, and I’m done.

Auctions are much better for dealers than collectors. A dealer is prepared to buy a wide range of items. If the price is good, they pounce. As a collector, the list is much narrower.