EagleRJO

Thanks, I actually answered my own question when I just came across the attached FAQ from the US Mint. Apparently, they use burnished (polished) blanks for both the Proof and Uncirculated coins, and the "burnished" Red Book term and the "uncirculated" US mint terms are in fact the same thing. You can also have "uncirculated" bullion/business strike coins intended for circulation as a precious metal (sorry @RWB I just couldn't use the technically correct "uncirculated circulation coin" since you know what I mean ... lol). I hear you with the "label" rabbit hole, and almost went down that with the Silver Eagles, but decided on just collecting the Proof coins for the various years/mints. When collecting them, I only intend on getting the proof coins, but I might also add the unc. bullion coins (not the "burnished" coins) because I already have a bunch of them as a precious metal, because I like the look and you can get them from large dealers for little more than bars of silver bullion. Man, I never imagined that collecting coins could get so involved, although I find it very interesting.

I am curious if the entry for a "burnished" American Silver Eagle in the Red Book and elsewhere is what the US Mint refers to as an "Uncirculated" coin, even though I thought "burnished" meant a special mirror-like finish on the Proof coins. For 2022 the Red Book has: $1 2022 (W)(S), with a value under the Unc. column $1 2022-W Burnished, with a value under the Unc. column $1 2022-W, with a value under the PF column $1 2022-S, with a value under the PF column I see references to Bullion (no mint mark), Proof and Uncirculated Eagles (with a mint mark) on the US Mint website concerning the types of coins available. Is "burnished" as used in the Red Book another way of referring to what the US Mint calls "Uncirculated" strike coins? I am a little confused because the US Mint does describe the Proof coins as being produced by "feeding burnished (polished) coin blanks into presses fitted with special dies". Does the Red Book just use the term "burnished" to distinguish between Bullion coins that have not been circulated [e.g. $1 2022 (W), Unc.] and the Uncirculated coins available from the mint [e.g. $1 2022-W Burnished, Unc.]? Also, if you are collecting the American Silver Eagles, I assume you would just get the Proof coins and maybe the common bullion coins since they are so cheap, and not waste time also collecting Uncirculated or Burnished coins which just seems redundant.

I just can't see spending $30 to $40 for grading a $200 to $300 coin, unless maybe you need to authenticate it or have it graded to sell at certain places (auctions?). Probably why I have heard that $400 to $500 rule of thumb as a cut-off. Although grading will increase the value somewhat, I doubt the increase will cover the grading cost unless it a more expensive coin. Needless to say, most of the coins in my "complete" Morgan Dollar collection probably will not be graded, just slabbed by me, as most are readily available in AU/BU condition for under like $100 to $200 each. And I do think I am going with the 6 coins for 1878 in order to have a "complete" regular production "Business" (or "Circulation") strike Morgan set that would check the boxes in the NGC Complete Registry set also

Thanks, so I guess when I say "business strikes" in the posts above I mean "circulation strikes" that may or may not have been actually circulated. So, to clarify I intend on assembling a complete "circulation strike" collection of the Morgan Dollars, even though some of them may be "uncirculated" coins directly from the mint. Also, I have heard a rough rule of thumb that getting raw coins graded for typical/common coins valued under like $400 to $500 really isn't worth it, because it doesn't add that much value for those coins. Any truth to that rumor ... ;-)

I don't have any really rare or valuable coins yet, but I have some that could be in the $500 to $1,000 range if they grade out favorably, so I might give it a shot using them and see how hard they hit me with sales pitches ... And I have heard that a potential $400 to $500 value is where you start looking at the extra cost for grading out raw coins.

I am a newer member/collector who is missing quite a number of less common or rarer coins for some sets I am working on, so I have been watching prices pretty closely and I noticed that starting around the beginning of this year to February the Greysheet values for those coins (mostly US dollar coins) have been dropping. Don't know about the overall coin market, but it would stand to reason that as there are downturns in the economy, and pull-backs on discretionary spending, that coin values in general will drop. Just my 2 (indian head) cents ;-)

Can you explain to this newbie ... I thought there were 3 basic types of coins from a mint: Proof Strikes, Uncirculated Strikes and Business Strikes. With Proof being the typical collector coin that have been available for quite some time (e.g. I have purchased individual mint packaged Morgans and Eagles for my collection directly from the US Mint or from dealers identified as "Proof" coins), the Uncirculated (aka "Burnished") coins which are a relative newer thing for collectors starting about 15 years ago, and the Business or "Circulation" Strike coins being the ones packaged in bags or rolls in large quantities for general distribution to the public. And that what some call "uncirculated" coins from rolls or bags are actually Business or "Circulation" strike coins that were kept in the original bags/rolls and then sold like that or broken out into individual coins for sale. Like these bags/rolls of 2022 Kennedy Half Dollars available to the general public recently described as "coins with circulating finishes that have never been released into circulation" ... https://catalog.usmint.gov/kennedy-2022-half-dollar-200-coin-bag-22KA.html?cgid=kennedy-half-dollars Now ya have me thinking I don't know what I thought I knew ... ;-)

Yea, that's what I meant as indicated in my reply to Just Bob above. Doesn't sound like a good plan they had, but it looks like those coins are considered regular business-strike coins from that mint, and therefore included in the NGC "complete" registry list and the red book. So, I think I will add the 1878 7/8 TF to my list for that year. Now, to find good condition ones at a reasonable price ... that's probably the real challenge that's going to take some time.

I was curious if anyone has come across or used the services of CoinAppraisers.com, a site that apparently is associated with the NY currency auction company Sack's Bowers Galleries in NY near where I live. Looks like if you arrange to send them coins, they will submit them to NGC or PCSG for you at no extra charge, with their volume grading discounts and faster turn-around times. I'm just thinking what's the catch? Maybe because they buy and sell coins at auction for a living it gives them a crack at possibly buying the coins from you. Any thoughts?

Thanks, I am looking more at raw coins for the common ones, and plan on buying slabbed coins for the more expensive key dates. I will check out those auction sites when I get to some of the more expensive key dates. About the raw coins, someone suggested estate sales that have coins, as sometimes collectors spend years searching for and collecting coins and accumulate quite a hoard of good coins.

I'm in NY, just outside NY City

Yes, I meant re-working the dies which resulted in the 7/8 TF coins. Looks like they were trying to make the change to 7 TF coins right away before the new 7 TF dies were available. I guess that's not really a mint error, so it's included in the NGC Complete set.

Thanks for the suggestions. How about places/events where I can find raw coins that have not been graded/slabbed yet? And what about rolls of older coins I sometimes see for sale on eBay, although I find it hard to believe someone hasn't already searched through the rolls to look for very valuable ones and then re-rolled the remaining common ones.

As I'm reading comments and doing a little more digging, including what's in an NGC "Complete" Registry Set, it looks like I will need more than the original 3 or 4 I was planning on for 1878 for a complete business-strike Morgan Dollar set which is what I was intending on collecting. It looks like it was intended to produce both the 8 TF and then 7 TF coins, including re-striking existing 8 TF coins with the 7 TF die, as well as starting to strike coins with the 79 Rev later in the year. So, it looks like 6 coins for 1878, or basically what is listed in the red book, for what I am envisioning is in a "complete" set for me. And it's going to get even more interesting when I get to 1880 ;-) ... and then 1893 (particularly the 1893-S, offfff) because I am shooting for AU/BU coins, or VF as a minimum. About that, any suggestions on where to look for some of the rarer dates/mints (other than eBay and sites like apmex) would be appreciated ... like maybe getting lucky at coin shows or estate sales? Thanks for the help.

I'm not really looking to cover the basic designs, but instead I intend to eventually collect all the regular business-strike Morgans. I'm leaning towards 4 Morgans for 1878 including 1878-CC, 1878-S, 1878 8 TF and 1878 7 TF since both the 8TF and 7TF were regular production coins for that year. Similar to the 2021-W Type 1 (Heraldic) and 2021-W Type 2 (Flying) Proof Silver American Eagles I have for that year.

Yea, they have 6 for that year like the red book. BTW, my wallet is really not looking forward to getting to 1893 of the set ... ;-)

I recently started collection coins as a hobby, and I am really enjoying it. I am starting out with collecting some more common larger coins, including the Morgan Silver Dollars. I intend on eventually having a "complete" set of Morgan Dollars, which I would like to have one coin from each mint for all the years. I don't intend on trying to get all the errors, just normal business-strike production coins as intended for that year, and I know some years and mint marks are going to be really hard or expensive to get in decent condition, but that is my goal. I am starting at each end in the spread of years and working inwards, with an occasional additional year/mint as they come up. However, I already am running into an issue as to what would be "complete" for the first year 1878. I have an 1878-S and 1878-CC, and I am looking for an 1878 (P) coin (regular production 1878 coin from the Philadelphia mint, with no mint mark). Here is the rub. Die errors/mis-strikes aside (e.g. 1903-S Micro S), I don't know if there is just one coin that would fit my intent as being the single intended production run coin for that year/mint. I don't see available from a reputable dealer or a listing in the Red Book for just an "1878" Morgan. My understanding is that the year started out producing an eagle with 8 tailfeathers, and then based on some negative comments the regular run was changed to 7 tailfeather. I have been told by one coin expert that the "1878 Morgan Dollar 7 Tailfeathers Rev of 78" is the standard business-strike coin for that year, with far more produced. So, I guess that could fit my bill for having an 1878 (P) coin in my collection. However, I have also heard from another expert that the initial 8 Tailfeather 1878 Morgan Dollar was indeed a standard business-strike coin for that year, and they just changed mid-production so I should also add an 1878 8 TF Morgan Dollar to have a "complete" business-strike collection. What do some of you here think?