1879 CC Morgan

Ralph, I think you've got another AG-3 Morgan as evidenced by the almost complete absence of a rim. (See grade definitions in 82CC topic). The reverse with its dirt in the recesses may show evidence of a previous cleaning, but I have well-circulated Morgans which have not been cleaned which show similar dirt patterns.

Unlike the 82CC, the 79CC has considerably more value since its population is number two in the Carson City series and number three in demand (see a great article on CC Morgans: http://www.ellesmerecoin.com/articles/226.html ).

I have played around a little with lower-grade 79CC Morgans as investments. I've been able to buy raw 79CCs at about $60 to $80 each, get them slabbed by PCGS for 30 bucks, then sell them on ebay for $120 to $150 each realizing a little profit. At the moment, my Carson City Morgan collection has a G-06 as representative of the 79CC although I hope to upgrade into Mint State within this next year. Lower grade 79CCs may be considered sleepers. One thing's for sure: they ain't making any more of them and increased demand with limited supply means increased value.

Fred

1883CC and 1884CCs in low Mint State and in slabs can be had off ebay for less than 200 bucks, only a little more than circulated grades. This is due to the huge numbers of uncirculated Morgans that were held, then released from US Treasury storage in the 1960s. Of course, 200 bucks (or 20 bucks) can seem like a lot to those of us who have had several back-to-back major repairs on our Jeep Grand Cherokees.

I hear you lima charlie! I have another hobby which is equally expensive: ham radio and I have almost as much into that as I do coins. I shudda learned to collect butterflies. For awhile, I collected empty Bic pens, but after more than a hundred, I found I was buying an awful lot of Bic pens just so I could empty them by doing a lot of writing. The arthritis in my hands just got worse.

Fred