Beginner Mistake = Starting Over

That big ol' fingerprint on the '78S bothers me a bit, but overall it looks alright. $65 was probably a bit high though.

I don't care for the fingerprint either, but if it doesn't bother you then nice!

And it's a good thing you learned your lesson about cleaning coins before you started collecting the carson city morgans! If you have a whole collection of CC morgans that were cleaned i'd cry.

Best of luck filling your album!

Now I have both Dansco albums to fill, and am (slowly) getting to know a local dealer just a few miles from home. This fellow has an amazing array of coins, helpful employees, and I feel more comfortable doing business there.

The store owner pulled out a large box of ungraded (circulated) Morgans of just about every conceivable variety, lent me his loupe, and left me alone to browse for about half and hour at the counter. I looked at probably 200 different coins housed in flips, and bought one to take home. He marked the $46.00 price down a buck, and I paid cash.

The 1878 specimen is not spectacular - I got what I paid for - but I now have a local dealer that knows I'm getting serious about collecting. A large display case nearby housed all the certified Morgans, and I informed the gentleman I'd be back with cash in hand to buy higher grade specimens at regular intervals. This seemed to please him, but the store was bustling with customers and I didn't want to take too much of their time away from other customers.

The coin I purchased was just to use as a "filler" till I get a better specimen, but my modest purchase has put me on good footing with a reputable dealer close to home - it was $45 well spent.

Photos will follow as soon as I get something juicy to post !