Now I'm Getting Scared!!

It happened again, and I am really getting scared. Here is the latest headline: Ungraded 1904-O Morgan Silver Dollar in a GSA Holder sells for $11,335 on Ebay today. It was item number 110035415732. I checked the PCGS price guide. It is listed at a retail value of $70 in MS64, $220 in MS65, $485 in MS66, and $4500 in MS67. It was a nice coin to be sure. My guess is that it was at least MS64, maybe MS65. It has an outside shot at MS66. It sold for 51 times the retail price if it grades MS65, 23 times if it goes MS66. In the unlikely event that it grades MS67, it still sold for over two and a half times its retail value. That is a hefty premium to pay for a piece of plastic surrounding an ungraded coin.

The last rare date GSA dollar sold for $6,800 on ebay in August 2006. This new sale is almost double the August sale. How many of your coins have almost doubled in value in the last two months alone?

What is going on? I will tell you. There is a lunatic fringe element of the coin collecting community that prizes rare date GSA Morgans, and will stop at nothing to get them. This group of deep-pocket zealous and dedicated GSA collectors start foaming at the mouth when a rare date GSA comes up for auction. They attack like sharks at a feeding frenzy, bidding these coins up and up.

The 1904-O is a previously ungraded date for GSA Morgans. This coin will be the first. But it may not be the last. If you were a long time collector and had a few of these coins, wouldn't you be tempted to sell at these ridiculous prices? I predict that more of these coins will start showing up in auctions soon. It is not known how many are left ungraded and intact in the GSA holders, but these prices may flush them out into the open market. What will happen to prices then? We will have to wait to find out.

One thing I know. If prices don't come down, I am out of business. My collection is done. No more acquisitions. No more additions to my registry set. I have been priced out of the market, perhaps never to return. Sad, but true.