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GSA_Gem_Quest

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Journal Entries posted by GSA_Gem_Quest

  1. GSA_Gem_Quest
    1878-S Morgan in GSA Holder Sells for $6,800 on Ebay
    Over the years, I have always been told by dealers - Buy the coin, not the holder...buy the coin, not the holder. Could they have been wrong all these years? Maybe...A recent sale on ebay makes me rethink the situation. An 1878-S Morgan silver dollar in the GSA hard pack holder recently sold for $6,800. Don't believe me.. check it out as item number 140021869861. The coin was no better than ms63, and is worth less than $100 based on the price guides (not in a GSA holder, of course).
    Perhaps it's time for a new mantra...Buy the holder, not the coin...Buy the holder, not the coin...repeat after me...Buy the holder, not the coin. Ah, I feel better now.
  2. GSA_Gem_Quest
    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.
  3. GSA_Gem_Quest
    You will have to read this to find out.
    I went to the Long Beach Coin Show in September 2006, and while I was outside waiting for the doors to open, I noticed something different about the mix of people standing around. There were numerous very attractive women also milling about waiting to get in. I thought to myself, what?s going on? Is coin collecting becoming a sexy hobby, where appealing women want to hang around the professional dealers and amateur collectors? Where the superstar dealers have their groupies, just wanting to get a glimpse of their latest acquisition? What kind of dream was this? Where sexy models are showing off the latest mint-issued proof sets? Sort of like a car show. The major mints will have spectacular displays showing off their new issues, with celebrities signing autographs and attracting the crowds. Maybe Farrah Fawcett or Raquel Welsh will be here!! (Now I am really dating myself.)
    Then 10 a.m. comes, and it is time to go in. The anticipation really has the crowd pumped up. When I get to the guy at the escalator, he asks, ?Which show are you going to?? Confused, I show him my visitor pass for the coin show, and he says, ?Your show is to the left.? I say, ?Where are all those other people going (i.e., the young women)?? He says, ?There is also a beauty, make-up and jewelry show, and that one is to the right.?
    I should have known better. After wandering around the coin show for a few hours, my question has been definitively answered. Coin collecting is NOT a sexy hobby. Instead of models and celebrities, I saw a lot of old timers like myself. One guy had long grey hair and a scraggly beard down to his belly button, and looked like he had just come down from his gold mine in the mountains. I didn?t ask at the ticket counter, but I think these shows must be age restricted to men over 50, based on the look of most participants. Next time I go to a coin show I am going to wear my tee shirt that reads ?OLD GUYS RULE.?
    A few weeks later, while perusing ebay, I was shocked, appalled and disgusted at what I saw (well?not really disgusted). What lay right before my eyes and caused me to do a DOUBLE take was a spectacular and glorious PAIR (of Carson City Morgan Silver Dollars in GSA holders, of course). If you missed it, check out ebay number 220032544578. Wow!! Maybe I was wrong?maybe coin collecting IS a sexy hobby after all. I wonder if this dealer also has dimes to sell?
    My apologies to anyone I have offended by this journal, including women, coin dealers, Carson City Morgan Silver Dollar collectors, dime collectors, groupies, Farrah Fawcett, Raquel Welsh, old guys in general, guys with grey hair, guys with beards down to their belly buttons, and, of course, gold miners.
     

  4. GSA_Gem_Quest
    The Ugly Duckling is really a Swan
    In my search to find the last coin needed to complete my registry set for Carson City Morgan Silver Dollars in the Original GSA Holders, the sun, the moon and the stars seemed to all line up for me at the recent October 2006 Dallas Heritage Auction. I wasn?t in Dallas, but was participating via the internet. I am more comfortable with internet auctions now, as long as the seller is reputable, the coin is professionally graded and the pictures of the coin are good.
    I was looking for an 1879-CC, the key date and king of the Carson City Morgan dollars in the GSA holders, and wanted one graded by NGC in MS64. The PCGS retail price on the coin is $12,000 in MS64, though they frequently sell for less. I expected to have to pay around $10,500 to get one in the GSA holder. The lowest I had seen one sell for in the GSA holder recently was $9,775. There are only 32 of the MS64?s graded by NGC in the GSA holder in the population report, and TWO were up for auction at the same time. Any time there are multiple coins of the same date and grade up for auction, there is a chance that the bidding will be split among the coins and they will all sell for less.
    I studied them both carefully on the Heritage website. The Heritage coin pictures are usually of very high quality, with the ability to zoom in on any specific area of the coin. The first coin looked TERRIBLE in the picture. I thought to myself, this couldn?t be an MS64. It looks much worse than a Morgan I have graded MS62. The second coin looked really nice for an MS64, and appeared to be an MS65 except for a nick on the forehead of Lady Liberty. Guess which one most of the bids went to. Guess which one I bid on...the ugly ducking. Apparently, other collectors shared my view that the first coin looked terrible in the picture. I was the only bidder!! I won the auction for a price of $8,050, which included the 15% commission. That is 67% of retail. Any time I can pick up a coin for 67% of retail, I am a happy camper.
    So what did I know that the other potential internet bidders did not know? For one thing, there were two pictures, one close-up of the coin (the terrible looking coin), and another picture of the same coin in the GSA holder. When I blew up the picture in the GSA holder, the coin looked significantly better. Which picture gave the better view of the coin? Looking at them through the internet, I could not tell which picture gave a more accurate view. One thing I did know. It was professionally graded by NGC as MS64. How bad could it be if it was graded MS64? Was it really an ugly duckling or a swan?
    I recently received the coin and anxiously opened the package. Out flew a swan. In my opinion, as a non-professional collector, it is a solid MS64. I think NGC got it right. I compared it to other MS64?s I have, and it is better than some, and worse than some. The terrible picture was not reflective of the coin I received. I am very happy and my registry set is now done (well?I think it is). By the way, the other coin sold for $9,775.
    Lessons to be learned if you are a seller: (1) Don?t put your coin up for auction if there are others of the same date and grade up for auction at the same time, and (2) Make sure the picture of your coin shows the quality of the coin accurately. If you put up a lousy picture, you might get a lousy price.
    Lessons to be learned if you are a buyer (and willing to take some risk): Ignore seller?s lessons (1) and (2). Look for auctions where there are multiple coins of a date and grade you want and don?t believe every coin picture you see, bad or good.
     
    1879-CC MS
  5. GSA_Gem_Quest

    Coin Hogs Unite!!

    By GSA_Gem_Quest,

    SUUUUU-WEEEEET!!!!
    We know who we are. We have money, but we need more. We postpone purchases of non-necessities. We let our houses fall into disrepair to save cash. We eat at inexpensive restaurants when we could afford better. We drive older cars when we could have newer ones. We don?t care. We stay up late at night hunched over our computers staring at the screen for hours. Our eyes get blurry. We get little exercise. Our necks and backs ache, but we continue our ways.
    Who are we? We are coin hogs, of course, and proud of it!
    What do we do with our excess cash? Even though we shouldn?t, we spend it wildly on coin purchases. We have multiple registry sets in our favorite categories of coins. We have a number one set, and we have a number two set. We have a set in proof-like. We have a set of toned coins. We have a set for our kids. We have a set for our wife. We have a set for our dog. Yes, dogs collect coins too. We follow coin auctions around the country from our computers. We occasionally attend local coin shows. The only exercise we get is finger exercise on keyboards, and walking around at shows.
    Why do we buy coins? We buy because we can. We buy coins because we enjoy it. We enjoy the conquest. We enjoy the victory. It doesn?t matter that we already have a particular date and grade. We buy another. We buy two more if we can. We buy to increase our registry points. We buy to fill a hole. We buy so that the other guy doesn?t get it. We buy in the last seconds of an internet auction and that gives us particular satisfaction. Sometimes we buy something we don?t even want if we can get it at good price. We buy to protect the price of coins we previously bought. We buy and buy. And then we buy some more. We buy until our safe deposit box is so full of coins, we can?t fit our important papers in it. Do we stop then? No, silly, we rent a bigger box.
    Once in a while we sell. It is not easy to sell. We may lose money when we sell. We don?t care. Why? Because our winners make us feel better than our losers make us feel bad. When we make money, it emboldens us to buy more and take more risk. To buy an ungraded coin over the internet and get it graded. To pay more than we should. We like to make money, but that is not why we do it. We do it because we are coin hogs.
    Now get up off of your flabby behinds and sing along with me to the music of the Queen song, ?We Will Rock You.? I have it playing in the background right now.
    We are?We are?Coin Hogs!! (sing it!)
    We are?We are?Coin Hogs!!
    Enjoy your Thanksgiving feast, for if you are reading this, you have a lot to be thankful for. Just don?t pig out too much!!
     
  6. GSA_Gem_Quest
    Number One No More!!
    For much of the year, I had the honor and pleasure of having the number one registry set for Non-Carson City Morgan Silver Dollars in GSA Holders. Granted, it is kind of an obscure category and not many people collect these coins. Many don?t even consider this category to be a legitimate subset of Morgans. I often wonder myself whether it deserves to be a separate category. Morgan silver dollars are very plentiful in general, and the only thing that separates the coins in this category from other Morgans is the plastic government holder in which they were originally issued.
    Only 28,000 non-Carson City dollars were placed by the government in hard black plastic holders for sale to the public in the 1970?s and 80?s, and many were probably broken out of the plastic holders to include in coin books or to be professionally graded. The different dates and the quantity of each date and mintmark included in the 28,000 were never recorded by the GSA prior to sale. The only dates included in the registry set are those included in the NGC population reports (PCGS does not grade them in the original holders). Other dates are known to exist and held by collectors, but have not been graded. As each new date is graded, a new slot is added to the registry set. This is the only registry set category I am aware of where your collection can become less complete, even though you haven?t removed or sold a coin.
    All was going well for me until NGC set up a separate category in their registry for these coins in early 2006. Don?t get me wrong. I am glad they did it and I encouraged them to do it. I don?t blame them in the least. I just wish that they hadn?t been so efficient and timely in getting it done. I thought it would take them a lot longer to do it. Since the establishment of the registry set category, prices have taken off, even though many of the collectors of these coins don?t participate in the registry. It may be coincidence in the timing, but I have my doubts. Regardless, pricing pressure is now intense for certain dates.
    Prior to the establishment of the registry set category, I was able to obtain some really nice coins for what I thought were fairly reasonable prices. Once in a while, I was able to locate a rare date or a really highly graded coin, and would be able to acquire it. I usually had to overpay to get it, but not significantly (in my opinion). Soon after the establishment of the registry set category, prices of these coins, especially the rare dates, really started to accelerate. More players entered the market. Some collectors I know threw in the towel and sold out their entire collection to cash in on the big bucks. Others are considering it. The premiums over retail value for the rare dates have increased dramatically since the start of the registry set category.
    While it is fun and rewarding to see and share my set in the registry, the difficulties of acquiring new coins increase as more money flows into the category. Winning a rare date coin at public auction becomes very tough, unless you are prepared to open your wallet wide and empty it out. Buying privately is challenging too because locating these rare date coins is almost impossible as a part-time collector. When you do find one, the seller wants the last inflated public auction price plus 20%. There are more collectors and not enough coins to go around. That is the new reality.
    Alas, I am number one no more. It was fun while it lasted. The big money and big dealer have moved into the neighborhood. I won?t pay the new prices. As a result, I won?t be as active in the future as a collector. The growth of my coin collection has slowed dramatically. The consequence of these events is self evident. Take a look at the registry. I got flattened. I got steamrolled. I got left in the dust as the locomotive roared past. The big money and the big dealer won.
    I trudge on, knowing that I will not likely be number one again. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time at the top, and intend to continue collecting the GSA dollars. They remain my favorite coins. After all is said and done, it?s still fun, even if not number one.
     
    1904-O Obv
  7. GSA_Gem_Quest
    February 2007 Coin Show
    I went to the February 2007 Long Beach Coin Show. What was I looking for? GSA Morgan Silver Dollars, of course. But more than that, I enjoy going to this major coin show, seeing old friends and meeting new ones, talking about coins, and maybe buying a few to add to my collection. At these shows, one can see, touch, and closely examine coins that are financially out of reach, but beautiful to behold. I don?t often buy coins at the show, but occasionally I will find one I like on the floor or in the live auction.
    Items of note: One dealer had a Peace dollar 1928-P in the GSA blue flat pack and said it was the only one. I saw it. Not a pretty coin, but unique, according to him. He said a few other dealers had already tried to buy it from him at the show, but he was not selling (at least for now).
    Unconfirmed rumor at the show was that PCGS was going to start grading the GSA blue flat packs and also the hard packs. No details on the timing. In addition, they might start their own registry set for the GSA Morgans. This could impact pricing down the road. Right now, only NGC grades the GSA hard packs and no one is grading the blue flat packs. Apparently NGC was not that interested in grading the flat packs, but will continue to grade the hard packs.
    No rare date non-CC hard packs at the show, but none expected. One dealer had the 1884-O DPL that was recently listed on Ebay for $4,100, but not sold (it is the only DPL in the non-CC GSA hard packs). I would like to own the coin, but not at that price. What's it worth? Your guess is as good as mine. It is a common date, but DPL. For now it is the only DPL in the non-CC GSA population.
     
    One dealer had 1880-CC rev of 78 ms64DPL and wanted 200% of PCGS price guide. There are only 4 graded ms64DPL. Again, I pass due to price. It is rare, but the markup was too much. I will have to settle for a 63DPL, if only I could find one.
    One dealer in the non-CC hard packs was berating me (I'm exaggerating) for driving up the price of non-CC rare dates. I told him it wasn't me. I am not willing to pay up for the rare dates, and so my registry collection has recently stagnated. He calmed down when he realized it was someone else driving up the prices. I guess he is still buying for his own collection, or it seems he would not care that prices were up.
    I was going to bid on one coin in the concurrent Heritage online auction. It was Lot 10660 in online auction 431 and was listed as GSA 1882-P graded NGC MS63*. This is a very valuable coin to collectors of GSA dollars. On my close examination of the coin online, however, it turned out to be an 1882-CC and not 1882-P. The NGC grade label was wrong for the coin. I let Heritage and NGC know of the error. Heritage pulled it from the auction. NGC removed it from the population report. There were 4 graded, now there are only 3. Hey, nobody?s perfect.
    Saw some nice Battle Creek toned Morgans (not GSA) at the show. I really enjoy toned Morgans, and the Battle Creek dollars are some of the very best toned coins I have ever seen. Better to see these in person to really appreciate the toning. The really good ones don't show up that often in auctions...in strong hands.
    I bought one coin at the show, an ungraded non-CC GSA. The 1885-O is the most common non-CC GSA date, but hard to get in ms66 (only 2 graded ms66). This one is borderline ms65/66. Depending on the direction of the wind that day, whether the NGC grader enjoyed his lunch or not, it could grade either way. If it grades ms65 (a sure thing, in my opinion, if not 66), I will sell it (I already have a 65). If it goes 66, I will add it to my registry set. I would say it has a 50/50 chance of grading 66.
    All in all it was a fun and interesting show.
     
    1885-O ima
  8. GSA_Gem_Quest
    An Award to Remember
    Did you watch the Oscar Awards last week? I watched bits and pieces of it. Did you see the woman who won an award and thanked her WIFE!!?? Did you see our former Vice President win an award for his re-election campaign movie?ah?I mean global warming movie. Did you see the guy win the supporting actor award for his movie part as a foul-mouthed dirty old man? Isn?t Hollywood great!!?? No wonder I don?t go to the movies any more. Even if you watched the whole thing, it did not show all of the awards given that day. It would have taken too long and the show would have lasted twice as long.
    One award you probably missed was the award given to me for one of the Best Presented Sets on the NGC Registry.
    I did not arrive in a limo. I drove home from work in my 2003 PT Cruiser.
    I did not walk down the red carpet to accept my award. I walked out to my mailbox that day and picked it up there.
    Not one photographer was snapping my picture.
    I did not dress in a tuxedo to accept my award. I was wearing khaki cargo pants with frayed cuffs and a ketchup stain on one leg, a tee shirt that said Yosemite National Park on it, and a flannel shirt. No shoes, just some well-worn socks. Where are the fashion police when you need them?
    No need to dress warmly here in California in February, where we are enjoying year-round summer-like weather as a result of global warming caused in part by excessive carbon emissions from dairy cow flatulence. Something?s got to be done about those cows! How?s the weather were you live?
    I did not give an acceptance speech for my award, but if I did, here is what I would have said.
    ?Could you please check the envelope one more time and make sure my name is on it? Ok, good.?
    ?I would like to thank the Academy for this prestigious award. I started my award winning set with modest goals, and so enjoyed acquiring the coins, researching information about the coins, and presenting it along with photos of the coins, that it evolved into a set worthy of receiving this award.?
    ?I want to thank my wife and kids for their support. I would also like to thank my mother, who helped start me collecting coins when I was 10 years old. In those times, one could actually find interesting and collectable coins sorting through rolls of coins obtained from the bank. Indian head pennies, buffalo nickels, mercury dimes worth far more than their face could occasionally be found, and coins actually containing silver were commonly seen in spare change. How times have changed.?
    The music started to play and my speech prematurely ended.
    Although my award arrived with less publicity than an Academy Award, it is no less prestigious or appreciated by me. Thank you to NGC and to all my loyal fans. I will be signing autographs at Muldoon?s Tavern on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. See you there!!
     
    NGC Award
  10. GSA_Gem_Quest
    Hawaii Here I Come!!
    There is nothing like a vacation in the tropical paradise of Hawaii. My family and I have gone there the past two years for a vacation, to get away from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives and relax in this beautiful oasis. Nice hotels, spectacular swimming pools, gorgeous beaches, great weather. No cooking, no cleaning, no work, no phone calls, no email, no computer. Wait a minute?no email?no computer?that means no coin shopping online, no checking the watch list, no bidding, no checking on bids. Everyone needs a break from the hobby once in a while, right? No problem. What can happen in a week? What are the chances of missing out on a coin from my top ten want list during my week of vacation? In my case, it was pretty good.
    The strangest thing happened on our last two trips to Hawaii. On each trip, while in Hawaii, I bought a coin that was in my top ten want list.
    The first time, a coin that I really wanted (ungraded 1878-P Morgan Silver Dollar in a GSA Holder) was in an ebay auction that was scheduled to end while I was gone. The hotel we were staying at did not have internet access, so I had to have a friend put in a bid for me just before the end of the auction. I won!!
    On the second trip, I was checking airline tickets the morning of our departure, when I got an email that another coin on my top ten list (1882-CC Morgan Silver Dollar graded MS66PL in a GSA Holder) was up for auction and would be closing while I was gone. This time, we were staying at a hotel with internet access (now a ?must have? for me to book a hotel), and I was able to bid and win the coin!
    Both coins are now part of my registry sets.
    Guess where we are going on our vacation next year?think hula dancers?think swaying palm trees?think tropical islands?and if the volcano gods are smiling down upon me, maybe another top-ten coin to add to my collection?you get the picture?aloha.

  11. GSA_Gem_Quest
    ?that keep me coming back for more.
    Dear Journal:
    I?ve been looking to upgrade my 1885-O Morgan Silver Dollar in the GSA holder to MS66 from MS65 for some time. Although this is the most common non-Carson City dollar in the GSA holder, with 137 coins graded as of this writing, finding one graded higher than MS65 is nearly impossible. 31 had been graded MS65, but only 2 were certified as MS66, and none were graded higher. For registry players, this is the Holy Grail they search for.
    I first spotted the ungraded coin at the Long Beach Coin Show in June 2006. It looked nice and borderline MS65/66. But I am no expert, and I was not comfortable buying the coin for a small premium over MS65 value. If I had it graded and it came back MS65, I would have lost money on the coin, plus the cost of grading. Since I already have an MS65, I don?t need another. I passed on the coin.
    Since then, one of the coins graded MS66 was offered to me at a substantial premium over MS66 value not in a GSA holder. The Morgans in the GSA holders tend to sell for premiums over retail for non-GSA coins, but I do have my limits. As a registry player, one way I analyze a potential purchase is to determine the cost per registry point. It is one factor I use, but not the only factor. If the cost per point is significantly higher than other similar open market sales, or significantly higher than I had paid in past transactions, it raises a red flag for me.
    I decided to pass on the MS66 graded coin, and instead wanted to take another look at the ungraded coin I saw at the coin show. I was delighted that the dealer and the coin were back at the Long Beach Show in February 2007. With a little more experience in the grading process, and having seen more coins graded MS66, I had a better idea of what it takes to make MS66. I took a hard look at it again, and in my opinion, it had a realistic possibility of making MS66.
    I bought the ungraded coin for the same price as previously offered to me, and sent it in for grading. To my delight, it came back MS66!!! Yaaahooo!!! It entered the population report on July 9, 2007 as the 3rd coin for this date in a GSA holder graded MS66. I call that a Home Run!!
    Though it was not a particularly rare coin, and only added 485 points to my registry score, it was surely one of my most satisfying acquisitions. All told, it was over a year from the date I first saw the coin to the date it made its permanent home in my registry set. My ungraded coin purchases don?t always turn out like this, but it?s moments like these that keep me coming back for more.