What Is A "Cheap" Coin?

Good advice ND. When my wife decided that Morgan dollars were her game she went after the best she could find (still does) and those darned old Carson City Morgans, that cost her $200, $300 and $400 each have risen 2 to 4 times higher than her purchase price in just the last 5 years. Don't believe the "cheaper" Morgans have done that, have they? We usually buy anywhere from 2 to 5 unc. Morgans every time we visit the coin shop (money permitting) and we have yet to regret that decision. I admit, when it comes to key dates or rarer issues we may step down on the grade but in many cases its whatever you may find on any given day. We will purchase something we don't have or really need and can always upgrade later if something comes available. I WILL never regret buying high quality coins as I have found there is ALWAYS someone wanting them ALL THE TIME!!!

When I think cheap, the first thought that comes to mind is the surviving examples or condition. Few collectors look past mintage numbers or take into consideration the great melting years. Frequently we receive emails or calls about the low mintage numbers of the (common) Morgan dollar series.

1886-S 750,000
1888-S 657,000
1889-S 700,000
1899-P 330,846

$100 and up in Mint State

Now given this info on face value it would seem that these would command nice premiums, but as most seasoned collectors know, they are not. These are traded daily with some of the lowest values in the series.

Comparing the numbers with simular low mintages:

1879-CC 756,000
1880-CC 591,000
1889-CC 350,000
1893-P 378,792
1893-CC 677,000
1893-S 300,000
1895-O 450,000
1895-S 400,000

$100 plus in the lowest of grades

All of these dates carry premiums easy to understand. They are highly collected, and rarely are they encountered in high states of preservation.

Now if you compare other series with small mintages and low rates of survival, they are really cheap.

All Half Cents have low mintages. Some with miniscule numbers like the 1849 with a mintage of 39,864
Many of the Large Cents such as the 1821 with a mintage of 389,000

Next the super rare:

1855 Three Cent Silver 139,000
1876 Three Cent Nickel 162,000

Now for those who want to spend a little more for unbelievable numbers:

1864 Three Cent Silver 12,470
1865 Three Cent Silver 8,500
1867-1872 Three Cent Silver with mintages in the 4000 to 5000 range.
1884-1886 Three Cent Nickels also with mintages in the 4000 range.

These are just a few examples that a grand can buy in low Mint State grades. Out of 4500 examples, how many can truely be available?

Start looking at series that are not highly collected, and many "cheap" coins can be found. Mix in HTT or CWT and you can pick up known surviving examples under 25 for a few hundred dollars.