GoldFinger1969

Welcome to the NGC chat board.
   It would be extremely unusual to find even a single 1992 "close AM" cent, so it is unlikely that all or any of them are "close AMs". There is no way we could tell without clear, cropped photos of each coin.  The "AM" looks close even on the common "wide AM" variety. On the "close AM" the numerals nearly touch at the bottom. These images from PCGS Coinfacts show the comparison.

   Unless you have the knowledge and experience to grade and otherwise evaluate coins yourself, including being able to identify die varieties, you should not submit coins to third-party grading services. You will likely waste a great deal of money if you do. Your referring to some of the coins as "almost proof" indicates a lack of basic knowledge, as "proof" is a method of manufacture, not a grade, and all proof 1992 cents are 1992-S.

The 1955 doubled die obverse cent is classified as a die variety, not a mint error, because the obvious doubling was in the die that struck the coins and imparted it to all the coins it struck. A mint error is created by flaws in the planchet or striking of an individual coin, and each one is usually different from all others.  
   Your coin is an ordinary 1955 cent in at best a lower end mint state grade and worth less than a dollar. Contrary to what you may have seen on some websites that spread disinformation, it is extremely unusual to find any major mint error, die variety, or other coin of substantial value in your change or in accumulations of coins.
   From what resources (print and online) are you obtaining your information about coins?
 

I agree with I.cutler this is not a DDO just a circulated 1955 cent.

I’m not seeing any doubling at all. Just a normal cent.

If you have a local coin show, go look at as many coins in your favorite series as you can in holders, but don't buy anything.  Then, come home and look at as many coins as you can in NGC and PCGS holders in the grades you like online ( 1921 Morgan Dollars on eBay in MS65).
Do some have more chatter/bag marks than others? Are some better struck? Is the coin attractive without unsightly marks/toning? Is it original, dipped, or over-dipped? Does the coin have luster?  Is the luster broken anywhere on the coin? Are there other problems ? Has the toning etched the surface to the point of borderline environmental damage? Is the scratch a little too deep/wide for a straight grade in your opinion? Are there hairlines from a pervious cleaning (yes, cleaned coins are in straight graded holders)? Has the coin been recolored/Artificially Toned (AT) Are the surfaces hard/smooth, or is there micro porosity? Are there rim dings? etc. etc. etc. Make a note of the coin... then look at the same coin, in the same grade, in the same way.  Is it better/worse/same?  Then another, and another.  You will find a LOT of variation in the same grade.  Try to stay with one type, date and mintmark at a time (i.e. comparing a 1938-D Buffalo Nickel and a 1926-D Buffalo Nickel would be challenging, as the 26-D is almost guaranteed to be more weakly struck.  As a newer grader without appreciation for the series, this may be confused with wear). 

Also a 2014 Kennedy half dollar. That one is very nice. 

Presumably, the reference is to the 2016-W centennial commemorative issue, containing a tenth of an ounce of .9999 fine gold and bearing the design of the "Mercury" dime. The mint sold 124,885 of them, according to the "Red Book", which lists them in between the 2015 and 2016 Roosevelt dime issues, at least in the 2023 edition.  There were similar 2016-W gold commemorative issues of the Standing Liberty quarter and the Liberty Walking half dollar.

I am scratching my head dramatically with this. Could you explain to me gold Mercury dime? Is this some modern fantasy coin?

Grading is super nuanced, subjective and highly controversial.  CAC was designed for collectors to get an independent, expert opinion on coins that are "solid for the grade" (green), or "would be solid for the next grade up" (gold).  Now, CAC has started CACG; an independent TPG with its own holders.  I will say that CAC is a bit of a mess right now since all of the new business models have started in VA.  However, historically CAC stickers have been a market maker.  A gold CAC will almost always sell for more than the next highest grade coin.
 The crack-out game, and the sticker games are real.  I am not saying it's wrong at all, but it add another layer of nuance to an already complicated hobby.  CAC stickers matter, because John Albanese is an expert grader and is seen as numismatic royalty.  Rick Snow is known for being an expert in Flying Eagle and Indian Head Cents, so his Eagle Eye stickers hold some weight on those types.  Stacks/David Hall CMQ stickers remain to be seen as a differentiator in the marketplace, but perhaps collectors will see them as the new "independent" validation source.  The rest are actually silly, and I smile when I see a coin with three stickers.
In the end.... you either like the coin, or you don't.

Been collecting for about 6 years. I'm not saying there is something bad about CAC. I pretty much prefer raw anyways. They mean more to people with really expensive coins more so then me. Does a Slight White sticker make my coin more desirable or worth more? I don't think the store I bought it from knew what it meant if I remember right. I'm sure they know CAC. I got two Slight White coins both the same grade PF67. 1961 and 1963 Benj. 

Slight white is the name of the company, slight white has no affiliation with CAC.
CAC chose the sticker colors, and as I said they do not identify coins that do not sticker to prevent impacting the value of those coins if/when they might be sold or auctioned off in the future.   Would you want a brown turd sticker placed onto your favorite coin and see a 1/3rd reduction of its value in the marketplace, I doubt you would and thus why CAC does not make the information on coins that failed public.   Just because a coin fails at CAC does not mean that the coin is junk, only that it does not qualify as solid (or better) for the grade in the opinion of CAC.   Not all MS65's are equal, some are just better than others, CAC attempts to identify those with their sticker, a failed coin might be overgraded or have surface issues in the eyes of CAC, but just like grading it is only one opinion.   I own several coins that I sent to CAC which failed and I still like those coins just as much today as when I bought them.
Yes you pay for the opinion whether you like or agree with that opinion or not, same as when you send coins to NGC or PCGS.   Talk to anyone that has submitted coins for grading, everyone has at one time or another gotten a coin back that did not grade or graded lower than they expected or agree with, and yes they still paid for that TPG service/grade opinion regardless of if they agree with it.
Yes, again this is not news or new, it happens with graded coins as well.   Have you ever cracked a coin out of a holder for your album?   Perhaps when you or your heirs decide to sell that coin will you then send it to a TPG for grading (now at least the second time it will be graded) or perhaps the new owner will sent it to be graded.    In many cases the grading companies have graded the same coins multiple times, this is not new.

I appreciate the good advice here!  I don't think I'll lose any money having the GSA CC's graded, so I think I'll start with those. Hopefully, that will give me at least a little bit of a feel for how far out of line my thoughts on their condition are compared to the reality of a TPG's view of them.
The backstory on these is that my grandfather collected most of them starting back in the 1920s and for years they lived in a storage chest in his bedroom. My dad bought the GSA CCs from the GSA auctions in the 1970s and he put them straight into in a bank safe deposit box. When my dad inherited his dad's coins in the late 1980s they went straight into a safe deposit box. My dad passed away 12 years ago and they went straight from his safe deposit box into mine.
Sandon brought up the point of inheritance and the legal aspects of coins as part of an estate. A concern I hadn't even considered. Still, since I was my dad's sole beneficiary in his will and my inheritance is well below the threshold of inheritance taxes, I think I'm okay there. 
So fast forward 12 years and now I'm at the point where I'm retired and looking to start putting some of my own affairs in order. Considering how long some of these have been in the family I'm still pondering if I would even want to sell any of them. Even if I decide not to, I think I'm doing my kids a favor if I can establish some kind of a ballpark figure for what they're worth.
Again, thanks for helping me start my education here. Once I have a better feel for the silver dollars I'll be moving on to pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and even a smattering of paper currency, so I'm sure I'll be here with more questions in the future and at some point might learn enough to start making a few contributions!

Welcome to the NGC chat board.
    The last thing you would want to do as a new collector is to submit these coins to a third-party grading service. Common date and mint, circulated Morgan and Peace dollars may not be worth much more than their current high silver value of about $23 per coin. The minimum grading fee at NGC would also be $23 per coin, plus substantial processing, shipping and insurance costs. Unless a coin has a market value of at least several hundred dollars, it isn't cost effective for a collector to submit it to a grading service.
    You state that you inherited these coins. The laws of many states require that property go through a probate proceeding before it can be distributed to heirs or will beneficiaries, and this process usually involves an appraisal of the market value of the property as of the date of the owner's death.  You should first determine whether the coins were appraised and ask the estate lawyer or executor for a copy of the estate appraisal.  Otherwise, you will need to determine the dates, mints and approximate grades (condition) of the coins before you can attempt to value them. Please see the following forum topic to locate basic resources from which you can learn to identify and get some idea of the coins' condition:
   The basic resources you will need for your purposes are a current (2025) or recent "Red Book" as identified in this topic and a grading guide. If you don't want to purchase these relatively inexpensive books, you can use such online resources as PCGS Photograde, PCGS Coinfacts, the NGC Coin Explorer, and the NGC and PCGS price guides.  You can also post images of a few of the coins for our opinions, but this wouldn't be practical for all 153 coins.
     

Hey All,
New (i.e., clueless!) guy here. I've inherited 88 Morgan dollars and 65 Peace dollars. The Morgans breakdown as:
Morgan - 9 GSA Hoard CC dollars 1880 to 1884 Still in unopened hard plastic cases
Morgan - 40 from 1878 to 1903 various mintage
Morgan - 39 from 1921 various mintage
Peace - 1922 to 1928 various mintage
To my untrained eye the condition of these coins ranges from a Sheldon Scale Good 4 to MS65 or higher.
None of these have been professionally graded.
My question is, what is the smartest thing a newbie in my situation. can do? Should  I upgrade to an Elite membership and bulk submit these - assuming I can - on the one hand they are all $1 coins, but on the other hand they aren't all the same kind of $1 coin so I don't know how the rules would work there. Should I just submit the nicer looking stuff to be graded and put the rest to one side?  I don't mind paying for grading, but I don't know if it makes sense to spend the money having some of the lesser ones looked at.  Any advice would be appreciated!
thanks,
Butch

Okay I’ll add an MS70 coin…
 

I got Dansco books being built. At the moment I'm trying to get all red cents. I got most up to 1933D. The ones after that. But on my Washington Quarter book which is coming along very well so far. I'm upgrading  most of them. I got a good chunk of them in BU. 1932 to 1998. I need 10 more but I'm going back and getting BU ones. Question I have is when you look at your book I do not want the pages to slap together hard. Any of you maybe put a flat piece of foam between the sheets? Maybe someone has a good idea how to take care of that.  . 

You have much to learn grasshopper.

And chances are these are coins that were right on the bubble...an inflection point....between 2 grades where the higher one means alot more $$$ for the owner.  The Franklin Gradeflation Thread ATS is the classic example where an astute collector DID re-submit and could not get the upgrade and the coin eventually went up like 1 1/2 grades with a CAC (I believe) and sold for like 25x the amount he sold it for. 
Happened in like 18 months or something relatively quick, as I recall.

1965 quarters are one of the most frequent pieces I get back in change, it's amazing how many I still see in circulation.
2019's, , I don't really pay attention to those. The 1965's I notice because every time I think I may have gotten some silver back I take a look and, yep, 1965.

Would you like to take a look at a draft of the short chapter relating to your suggestion? Does it answer your question?

I made a rough outline of this but it did not seem to hold together. Partly, this was because the State Dept was almost always involved, and the other end was always foreign economic and political situations that would not be understandable to Americans. I've provided archival info to authors in several countries. Their articles for domestic use are excellent, but they don't really "speak" to American readers.
Interesting future idea, though.
A lot of the ideas in the book draft, however, are direct from forum members.

🐓:  There's a new #2 in gold roosters on the West coast?
Q.A.:   Really?  Who?
🐓 :  YOU!
Q.A.:  Me???  Nooo! How? Why? Give me that...  Is this thing on???
***  A few minutes later...
Q.A.:. Holy cow!  It's true, but -- wait a minute... you can leap frog over me, but that won't change my set rating, only my rank!  Hold on,... it says my set isn't complete -- that I need one more coin! Preposterous!
🐓  :  Better check your set...
Q.A.:. THE 1909!  MY FAVORITE!  IT'S GONE!
🐓:  So what!  You got the cert #.  Add it back on to the itinerary.
Q.A.  IT SAYS IT'S ALREADY IN SOMEONE'S SET!
🐓  :  First things first. It's Saturday. Better drop them an e-mail and uh, one more thing:  Don't mention it on the Forum!  You know... the bigger they come the harder they fall.  You'll never be able to live this one down with your gaggle of Ignorers.
Q.A.:  Say, maybe that's why some members block the cert. numbers on their coins... Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
To the membership-at-large:
For non-Set Registry participants, no actual theft occurred. This is simply an inventory tool and virtual showcase. As no actual loss occurred, and it being mid-year, post Awards, it is not an urgent matter. It will be addressed. 
What I am really interested in finding out is whether this has ever happened to anyone here, or elsewhere, and if not, whether anyone would care to hazard a guess as to how this may have occurred? All opinions and conspiratorial theories are welcomed.
 Posted at the discretion of Moderation.
 

Interesting story.  I would love to see the coin now.

Great story.  Like trees,  coins are witnesses to history.  I love that the family is holding this privately and didn’t rush to social media with it.