CC Morgans?

yep the GSA Morgans cost more than a raw coin of the same date so the only reason I could think that a raw coin was higher than the GSA Morgan is if the raw coin was a rarer date/mint mark then the GSA morgan. 1882,1883,1884 are the most available dates in GSA holders so their prices are usually a freaction of the cost of other GSA Morgans

So where is the best place to find these GSA Morgans? I wouldn't mind getting my paws on a couple.

Most of the situation regarding GSA CC Morgans have already been addressed, but I'll add my two Flying Eagle cents' worth.

Becky, I keep a pretty close eye on CC Morgans on ebay since they're my specialty, but I tend to somewhat disagree about NGC-graded GSA slabbed Morgans going for less than the same raw CCs with several qualifications. First, as several pointed out, a particular year/mint/grade cannot be compared with a different year/mint/grade (e.g., a raw GSA 1882-CC in MS-63 cannot be compared with an NGC MS-63 GSA 1883-CC Morgan; 1883-CCs outnumber 1882-CCs, so the raw 82-CC will go for more). Second, your observation that some ungraded GSA's sell for more than the same GSA coin which has been graded by NGC is quite astute. Other than your speculation that buyers are hoping that they are buying a higher grade, I would add that there's a LOT of suckers out there who believe whatever the seller states in an auction. If the seller claims that the GSA is an MS-66 or MS-67, far too many believe him/her, so will bid higher than what the coin is actually worth because once it's submitted to NGC, it's gonna come back as an MS-64 or MS-63 (or lower). The smart bidder will bid up only to MS-62 or, if the bidder is feeling venturesome, maybe MS-63 and takes the chance that he/she will be outbid by a sucker.

As Fengk stated, buy smart. This is especially true of GSA Morgans - with most sellers of ungraded coins, don't believe a word they say about grades. In most instances, they've inflated the grade by at least one and more likely two or more grades.

Fred



To others - it's my observation that GSA Morgans are getting scarcer since many collectors are cracking them out of their GSA holders and submitting them to PCGS or ANACS. As this practice continues, the numbers of GSA holdered coins decreases and their value goes up. And GSA isn't putting any more Morgans into holders. I've been watching the distance gradually widen between the value of an NGC-graded GSA Morgan and the same date/mintmark and grade in PCGS and ANACS slabs - with many exceptions. Still, there's still a LOT of raw GSA slabs out there, so it's gonna take awhile before this distance becomes universal.

The moral of this story is: keep your Morgans in their original GSA holders and hope that PCGS and ANACS follows NGC's example by certifying and grading them without cracking them out of their GSA holders.

I saw quite a few GSA CC- Morgans and a GSA- Peace at the coin show this weekend, has anyone else heard of this . by the way I do know that some GSA are not CC. A few of the Ones I saw were prooflike w/ a little frosting on the devices - but with lots of marks on the white that was on the cheek..

I want to add, there is a very good write up about the GSA dollars in the "comprehensive catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan and Peace dollars" by Leroy C. Van Allen & A. George Mallis that starts on page 397 and if you want to know alot of information about the GSA and have the book it is a very interesting read. here are the numbers the book gives and what numbers of what specific date was put in the GSA holder
..............Uncirculated....Mixed CC....Mixed Uncirculated....Circulated...........Unusable
1878-CC...47,567....................................................................13,426(culled)
1879-CC....3,633...............490
1880-CC..114,942.............16,587
1882-CC..122,709.............24,776
1883-CC..523,853.............222,116
1884-CC..788,630.............174,008
1885-CC..130,823.............17,462
1889-CC............................1
1890-CC....3,610...............339
1891-CC....5,177...............510
1892-CC............................1
1893-CC............................1
Various P,O,S............................................27,980
Various.....................................................................................84,165.......................311


As a result of sorting operations, the GSA had five catagories of cilver dollars (1) Uncirculated CC, (2) Mixed CC (3) Mixed Uncirculated (of other mints) (4)Mixed Uncirculated and (5)Unusable (due to severe gouge or badly worn). The mixed CC category included Uncirculated CC dollars that were tarnished andscratched and were therefore to be sold at a reduced price.Also note that thismixed CC category also included one each of the Uncirculated 1889-CC, 1892-CC, and the 1893-CC. These were put in this category since there was not enough to include as seperate bid categories of the uncirculated CC. Since the Uncirculated 1878-CC were sold at the same price ($15), the culled (tarnished/scratched)1878-CC had to be sold at a lower price. All 13,426 culled 1878-CC were put in the mixed circulated category abd sold for $3 each.[:0] The rejects/errors consisted of 2 to 5 percent of the total coins of each year. The scratched/tarnished consisted of 10 to 30 percent of the total coins with 1878,1882,1883, and 1884 particularly high. The initial sorting culled out 72,000 1882-CC, 78,000 1883-CC, and 77,000 1884-CC as scratched/tarnished. Later, additional coins were added to this category for these three years. The Bank Holding Company Act Amendments which were signed by president Nixon on December 31,1970, authorizing the sale of the dollars by the GSA did not permit error or variety coins to be sold seperately from the normal coins. Thus, they were mixed in at random with the two categories of coins sold; those that met the grading standards and those that fell below the grading standards to be sold at a reduced cost.

ok here is the totals of all for each year which consists of each catagory above
1878-CC=60,993
1879-CC=4,123
1880-CC=131,529
1881-CC=147,485
1882-CC=605,029
1883-CC=755,518
1884-CC=962,638
1885-CC=148,285
1889-CC=1
1890-CC=3,949
1891-CC=5,687
1892-CC=1
1893-CC=1
Various P,O,S=27,980
Various=84,476

So by that chart the 1884 is the most common with 962,638 with 1883 being the second with 755,518 and 1882 being in third most common at 605,029

sorry I am ranting on about this but I am just giving highlights to the ones that do not have the book to read on their own