Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums and need some advice. Long story short, for $10 I acquired 10 silver dollar coins, 4 Morgan Silver dollars and 6 peace dollars. The Morgan dollars are (generally good condition, I would judge them to be between Fine and extremely fine more towards extremely fine). Philly mint I think for all. 1900 1921x3 Peace dollars (I feel most of these guys are in fine condition) 1923x2 1925 1934 1926 I've always been interested in collecting coins when I was younger but never really had the capital to do so but it's a different story now. I went to the local coin shop today and they offered me $26 per coin and I'm assuming I don't have anything particularly interesting so they essentially offered me the melt value. Talking to them for a little bit about my hobby when I was younger and they suggested in regards to Morgan silver dollars that for "investing" the best strategy would be to acquire fewer higher quality rarer coins rather than your typical run of the mill common Morgans. I considered this advice and now I'm thinking I may act upon it or at least start a collection. My goal is to have coins that won't lose value over the long term. I'm assuming this implies that buying those rarer coins for their numistic value rather than it's weight in silver is important. At the same time I still like the idea of having a collection and not simply owning the single most valuable coin I can afford. With my goals in mind what would you suggest if I were looking into getting into Morgan silver dollar coins or perhaps another precious metal coin that won't break the bank. One option I thought about was returning to the store to redeam my $260 and exchanging it for a something like a 1883 Carson City http://cgi.ebay.com/Boxed-Carson-Ci...89?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item5ae00aab81 Would that be a wise move? Would doing this help achieve my goal?
if you click on the ad on the upper right of the page for gsa dollars, you can find an 1883 morgan for a much better price then the ad you linked to. http://shop.gsadollars.com/1883_c7.htm
Most of my GSA CC Morgans were acquired for around $200 each and have graded MS64, exxcpet for one MS63PL. You gotta know where to look for 'em. In this run up/before the run up, I went to bullion/scrap dealers and asked to see what they had. For $260, you can get a NICE, graded, in the box with cert, GSA 1883-CC Morgan and still have money left over. OR, you can go right for the 1893-S. It's where I started with my collection. Books that will help: Red Book's Morgan Dollars 3rd edition (now in color!) The VAM Book (if you wanna take it up a notch) Top 100 VAMs 4th Edition (after you've taken it up a notch) Don't forget your loupe!
Some of the dealers around here are paying 10% below melt. About 15 minutes ago, melt for Morgan and Peace dollars was at $28.4397. There are some varieties in those dates that carry a premium. Maybe you have a 1921-P VAM 44, or a 1923-P 1C or 1E.
Thanks for a very interesting thread! You pose some questions which should be of general interest to all collectors. Since I don't know anything about you other than what you've posted, I'll offer some ideas and you can accept/reject based on your personal situation. Point #1 Many Collectors (especially younger Collectors) are perfectly content to put together a complete, circulated collection. The coins are more affordable, can be displayed in an album without fear of damage, and have a potential for long term bullion/numismatic appreciation. If that idea appeals to you, you are well on your way to completing your Peace Dollar collection...the 1921/1928 being the only stumbling blocks (the 1934s is affordable in lower grades). Point #2 Your Dealer offered you $26/coin and most of responses I see so far are negative. I think $26/coin is a fair price and here's why... 1. Your coins are common dates and really not worth more than melt in their condition. 2. Everyone is quick to compute a bullion price based on the published "uncirculated" weight, without taking into account a coin's wear. The "uncirculated" bullion content of your coins is 0.77344 Oz/each...that's $27.30/each given the current silver price of $35.30/Oz. Taking into account your coins' wear, I think your Dealer made you a very fair offer; an offer intended to attract your future business. 3. Most Dealers weigh common date (bullion) coins, then multiply by some factor that takes into account the current silver price, the fact that "coin silver" is only 90% silver, and a little profit for the "house". The multiplication factor can change on a daily basis so if you get a price you like and you want to sell, you shouldn't wait (imho). Point #3 If, as you say, you would like to get into "investing", I would first suggest you focus your time and energy into learning how to read corporate annual reports and invest in stocks...you'll make WAY more money doing that than investing in coins. Personally, I invest in stocks and use a portion of the profits to support my coin "habit". Coin investment is risky and expensive. Everyone has their hand out at purchase time and at sales time. In between, you have security and storage risks/expenses to consider. If these statements haven't deterred you, then you most likely want to be a coin "Collector" with an eye towards profit...which is what I gathered from your original post. Scott Travers is a coin investment author that has a number of very good books on the subject. I've gotten all of my Scott Travers books from Amazon.com. In a nutshell, Scott Travers doesn't advise investing in common date coins in any condition. He recommends investing in the highest grade KEY DATE coins possible. That may be an over simplification of hundreds of pages of thoughtful analysis...but that's the main "nugget" I took away from my readings. Point #4 I like the idea of going for a Carson City (obsolete mint) Morgan dollar. You can't really call yourself a Morgan dollar collector without at least one (1) Carson City coin. Of course, as vroomer says, if you can get an 1893s for $260...I would go for it!!
If I am reading it right you paid $10 for face $10 in Morgan and Peace Dollars. You were offered $260. That's a 250% return. I would think cashing that in would be a no brainer. Upgrade the commons to a nice premium even if you need to kick in a few additional bucks.
I am not one to try and use the hobby as an investment vehicle. The problem with purchasing higher grade coins to hold for profit is that coin values are subject to demand. What is in fashion one year may not be worth all that much the next. I suggest that you purchase "key" coins. With more than 30,000 registered ANA members and an estimated 2,000,000 collectors in the US and growing, key coins seem to hold value. Sell the silver and buy the best 1914 D authenticated cent you can afford and sit on it. IMHO
Last week the "Pawn Stars" store quoted me 6 times face for US silver coins. So they would have given you $60.
