To Slab Or Not To Slab 1878 Morgans

Hi Alice--

It's kinda hard to tell which parts of the coins belong to which coin, but if I got it right, the pics should be read from top to bottom, yes? So, from the top, it's 1878CC followed by two 1878's. The 78CC Morgan is easily the most potentially valuable of the three, but it looks like it has been cleaned. The second 78 (reverse of 78 with parallel arrow feathers) looks like it's in the best condition with XF or AU features, but through the plastic, it's also possible it's been spiffed up a little. The third 78 is the original 8 tail feathers variety, but is in only VF condition. The CC is definitely worth slabbing, but do it at ANACS so you'll at least get it into an encapsulation instead of a "sorry, can't grade it" bodybag. The two 1878s are both just marginally worth it to get slabbed with market value at roughly $40 each (maximum) AFTER slabbing, presuming they haven't been cleaned or otherwise altered. If it were me, I'd have the CC slabbed no matter what its condition. I'd have to make a personal assessment of the other two before sending them in to make sure they weren't problem coins. If I had convinced myself they weren't cleaned I'd probably send them both in even though I probably wouldn't recover the full value of the coin plus the cost to grade and slab them (e.g., I'd spend $25 to slab a $40 coin if the coin had cost me little or nothing and be happy if it brought in $25.). One thing to remember is that a slabbed coin will sell a LOT more easily than a raw coin and will almost always bring more than a raw coin.

Re-reading the above, it may not make linear sense since I was mentally jumping back and forth over the pro's and con's of slabbing the second two. ANACS would be my grading company of choice since it costs the least to grade and slab, but I would submit them at the lowest possible submission tier which is $12 per coin at the Economy rate (21 days which means you might get them back by Labor Day). I think the most you could get for either of the 1878 coins in a slab on ebay would be about $25 to $30 (nobody gets Book Value on relatively common coins), so you'd be ahead, but not by very much especially when postage/shipping/packaging costs are factored in.

Let me know if this makes sense.

Even if it were run over by a locomotive, you'd have no problem selling the 78CC.

Fred

Depends at what level you submit it. The more you pay, the faster they come back. Many collectors submit at the lowest level (Economy) and don't look for their coins back for three to six months. Because I'm a fulltime RVer, I usually have relocation deadlines which don't give me enough time to wait at the post office, so I spend $30 to $50 to get the coins back within a guaranteed period of time. I've got several to go into ANACS, but they'll have to wait until fall when I'll have longer periods in one spot.

I haven't yet gone looking at other threads you might have posted. I'm getting ready to relocate in a few days to a cooler climate higher in the Arizona mountains to the north. It's getting ready to break 100F here, too much for me, so I'll be offline for a few days to possibly more than a week or two, depending on whether I find a site where I can access my satellite.

Watch for me to just pop in with no advance notice.

Please keep the forum posted on how well you make out.

Fred