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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,567 |
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New Member
United States
4 Posts |
After being away from coin collecting for the past 20 years or so, I finally have the means to go back to collecting. I used to have a pretty good idea of what coins should go for, but now I need to get used to the higher prices. In the area where I live, I have been buying common date AU morgans for $32 to $39. Does this sound like a reasonable price? It seems a bit cheaper than ebay, and it's lower than Red Book prices (which is what I would expect). My main concern is that I now live in a smaller area that has only 1 real coin shop, whereas I used to live in a city that had at least 5 coin shops, so I sometimes wonder if the lack of competition leads to higher prices. I'd be interested to hear what you guys have been paying for your coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1536 Posts |
Sound like full retail prices for common AU, prices OK I think. I think around $40, you can get a common MS. You have to remember Morgans are popular and as others have stated, it can sometimes be hard to get a deal on them. I bought this on ebay for $28. I could probably sell it for more but that was for me, with X-mas money.   Edited by buddy16cat
04/26/2015 6:34 pm
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Pillar of the Community
798 Posts |
I bought that EXACT same coin in the same condition for $18. At the Crawford coin store.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Welcome to Coin Community, MTCoinCollector. You will likely hear plenty of anecdotal evidence - such as Normic67's - of prices that low for Morgans, but that takes either a solid helping of sheer luck or a very_good local coin shop willing to take very little profit from circulated Morgans.
I think your local price to be a slight bit high (not that you've an abundance of brick/mortar choice in your area). Your best bet is to reach outwards, because the numismatic hobby is finally embracing the Internet for commerce in a big way and there are a ton of good reputable dealers online.
Unfortunately, there are also a ton of overpriced weaksauce coins, as well.
The greatest benefit is in your ability to drill down and specialize while still having easy availability of coins in your niche. To that end, it might actually be in your best interest to get a clearer idea in your own head of what it is you'd like to collect.
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New Member
 United States
4 Posts |
Thanks for the replies, guys. I had a sense that I was overpaying slightly. At the 1 coin shop, they have AUs for $35 each and AU/MS60s for $39. There is also a "gold and silver" shop that sells AUs for $32 to 35. Looking at ebay, as buddy16cat suggests, it looks like I could get similar coins for a few dollars less. It just seems a tad difficult to get the deal that I want. I always seem to lose the auctions by $1. I guess that comes with the territory in trying to collect silver dollars. There's just a certain allure in holding a large heavy coin. It's also pretty cool sifting through a huge bin of Morgan dollars at the coin shop. Perhaps I should look into just collecting walking liberty and Franklin half dollars instead. It would save me a ton of money. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
That is a tough question. Are you buying AU bucket dollars, or dollars that are 2x2'ed in the dealers case. Also, to me, there is a lot of difference between AU/50 and AU/58 coins. I think the prices you posted are Ok for AU/58 coins. But may be possible to find AU/50 coins cheaper. Morgan dollars also have a lot of conditional grade coins. Meaning there are quite a few that will jump in price at the AU or low MS grades, but very common in lower grades. Can you find cheaper coins .. sure .. as was posted if you are lucky. But if you are finding problem free, good eye appeal Morgan's in the $30's that are true AU. Might be a good deal. Lastly ... keep watching prices ... I do think they are slowly trending down. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5828 Posts |
 prices are trending down, with investors leaving the market. |
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Pillar of the Community
798 Posts |
Quote:There's just a certain allure in holding a large heavy coin. It's also pretty cool sifting through a huge bin of Morgan dollars at the coin shop.  |
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New Member
United States
4 Posts |
Yes, these AU coins are in a huge bucket and not in 2x2's. That being said, this is the only coin shop I have ever been to that has put such nice coins in a bucket rather than in individuals coin cases. I was actually really surprised by the condition of the coins when they handed the bucket over to me.
The grades of the coins definitely seem to be AU, probably ranging from AU 50 to AU 58. Some may even be able to pass as MS 60. Since I'm essentially starting from scratch, I just grab the best looking coins of the bunch without worrying about date (other than avoiding 1921s). The coins seem to be problem free. Most of them have a good amount luster, many of them are toned, and there are few, if any, that have obvious evidence of cleaning (at least to my amateur eye).
I'd love to see prices trend down. I wish that investors would find something else to invest in and leave the coins to the true collectors...
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New Member
United States
4 Posts |
The Morgan dollar bucket probably had at least 100 to 200 coins in it. I was in heaven... |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:The Morgan dollar bucket probably had at least 100 to 200 coins in it. I was in heaven... Oh, dear......I'd be in trouble. I hesitate to mention this out of concern for your future spare time, but you_do know Morgans can be collected by variety, right?  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
Quote:The Morgan dollar bucket probably had at least 100 to 200 coins in it. I was in heaven... That would be a lot of fun. I would be looking for coins that might not be common .. in those grades |
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Pillar of the Community
798 Posts |
Quote:
I'd love to see prices trend down. I wish that investors would find something else to invest in and leave the coins to the true collectors... YES! Just yes! MTCoinCollector, I believe we should get together and go bowling. You have earned my respect very much.   |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
 Tuff question. I've seen them at coin shows for anywhere from $17 to virtually hundreds and more. You must remember the massive differences in condition, amount minted, where you buy them and many other factors. Sort of like asking how much is a book. Just to many variables. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1536 Posts |
I wonder if the person who buys the Morgans so low is because he is in Canada. Canadian silver coins only go for melt here.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,567 |
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Posted 04/26/2015 7:04 pm
