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What are some good reasons for getting a coin graded by a third party?
1) Because you want professional confirmation of its' authenticity.
2) Because it's going to be sold and is of sufficient value that a prospective buyer would expect it in a slab.
That's the whole list of reasons, at least in my opinion.
Numismatics is a knowledge-based hobby, plain and simple. Your path to being able to reliably accomplish these things for yourself can only be the result of seeing, handling and/or looking at
thousands of coins. In this day and age, where you can post images online in front of a concentrated audience of experienced people, your learning curve can be pretty steep by comparison to a couple of decades ago.
One of the first steps I recommend for a newer collector - especially one like yourself, who seems interested in Morgans - is to register with Heritage Auctions. It's free, and gives you access to their huge database of previous auctions (1.7 million coins), most of which have extremely high-resolution images. It's a
whale of a reference source. Just be careful with your wallet, once you see some of the stuff they're offering at auction.
Oops. Forgot the 1896. It is the best-looking of the coins you've presented so far, but the reddish hues on the reverse convince me that it's circulated slightly or been exposed to some outside agent in storage. I can't really render any confident opinion about the surfaces, though, because these are scans. Scans present detail nicely but obscure surface appearance.
Posted 02/14/2014 2:39 pm
