EagleRJO

Where are you getting your mintage numbers? Hopefully not from the seller. Per the US mint the mintage number is up to 400,000 for the various options, and I believe it would be considerably more than 5,000 for a single run. https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/apollo-11-50th-anniversary-silver Also, silver rounds would not be worth grading. Just keep it in the OGP from the mint.

Please post pics of the full obverse and reverse and the weight to 2 places.

CAC previously held weight in terms of the grade of a coin, and possibly being an exceptional coin within a grade. Say you had a coin that was graded MS67, but it was a really nice 67 approaching but not quite getting to a 68. You could submit that exceptional MS67 to CAC and get a sticker indicating the exceptional nature of that coin, approaching the next grade. Contrast that with another MS67 that just barely made that grade. That coin would not be eligible for a CAC sticker as it wouldn't qualify as exceptional within that grade. Then the TPG's introduced the "+" designation indicating essentially the same thing as the CAC sticker, that a coin was exceptional within a grade, approaching the next grade. So imo the "+" designation by the TPG"s basically replaced the CAC stickers.

Which grading company is that from? Maybe your could start a new topic posting the label and asking what it is. If it's a raw coin or after-market slab it may just be the sellers ID for that coin, but putting it in a new topic will likely get you answers.

I don't know if I would consider that a spitting eagle as it's really directed at the head, and not the mouth. And die cracks or breaks are part of the normal coin production process, which happens all the time, so I wouldn't consider that an error. Still a keeper.

I could see the point of having the CAC stickers before the TPG's introduced the "+" designation in the grading. Now it seems pointless.

@powermad5000I agree the op shouldn't completely give up on eBay. But first learn how to grade and evaluate Morgans, and stick to slabbed ones until he can do that. Good luck with your complete set of MS grade Morgans. For my complete circulation set I have been targeting XF as a minimum grade and that has been really hard for some of the coins which gets expensive. I have had to make a few exceptions myself dropping to VF. And I may have to drop one more grade for several from the 1890's, but I will have to see what is left in my coin slush fund or wait a bit longer. Btw, are you using the NGC Registry Set for Circulating Morgans with 105 coins as a guide for your complete set? That is what I have been using as a guide, and luckily they do not consider the 1895 (P) Proof (small house priced coin) a circulated coin.

I didn't say they were all bad, I said that "I would completely avoid or be extremely cautious with any raw coins from eBay as they are almost all over-graded coins or counterfeits on that site." I stand by that statement based on my own personal experience related just to raw Morgan silver dollars on eBay, which was the subject of my comments. Over the past year I have spent countless hours searching, grading, evaluating, bidding on and purchasing coins for a complete circulation set of Morgans I am working on. Virtually all of the sellers seem to overstate the grade of the coins as a way to increase the sale price, and occasionally you will encounter a counterfeit. Sometimes there are sellers who accurately list the grade of a coin, but that is the exception. The intent of my comments was not to convey that all the coins on eBay are bad, just that the op needs to be able to accurate grade raw coins and identify counterfeits for the coins being offered for sale. This is necessary in order to avoid buying a counterfeit coin, and make appropriate offers or bids on coins consistent with the correct grade. If the op is unable to grade raw Morgans or look for indicators of a counterfeit I think they should completely avoid eBay for raw Morgans as stated.

You have to know the basics about coins and what is and isn't an error first. See the following topic by Sandon and the post above by him about mint errors. Also go to sites like error-ref.com, varietyvista.com and doubleddie.com for more info about errors and finding ones that may be valuable enough to sell. LInk: Resources for Collectors

Story of my life with quarter and half dollar roll hunting! Legit errors seem to be very difficult to find.

I'm just curious what you thought made the coins valuable. And welcome!

You can find values for coins and bills without sending them in for grading. For coins see this NGC webpage ... https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/united-states/ To get a ballpark idea of coin values think in terms of poor, average, and excellent condition for your coins and go to the NGC price guide webpage for that coin and look at the corresponding lower, middle and higher values, ignoring any values above MS60. Concerning grading, generally the value of the coin should be around $300 to avoid a loss, and if you can't evaluate that don't send the coins in for grading. For the bills I believe @Sandonor @Fenntucky Mikemight be able to help.

Well I whiffed on that one cause I thought you were buying a Details coin. If its bent but you really can't see that I would say it would go for anywhere between dropping one grade and 25% off, maybe less of a discount due to the rarity of the piece. There are no GC or HA auction results for that grade coin or one lower in any condition, but Coin World has values which seem consistent with NGC and PCGS values. Nice coin to have in your collection even with a Details grade.

I am still working on my complete circulation set of Morgans, but before jumping into that collection I also did a bunch of research, read up on the coin, and spent countless hours on learning how to grade those coins. If Morgans are going to be a focus I would recommend a book by Bowers titled "Morgan Silver Dollars" (see attached). There are also many topics on this forum about grading and evaluating Morgans. In selecting coins (to evaluate in-hand for raw coins no matter where you purchase them) I would completely avoid or be extremely cautious with any raw coins from eBay as they are almost all over-graded coins or counterfeits on that site. This is where being able to grade and evaluate Morgans becomes important, so you can avoid counterfeits and make/bid reasonable offers or amounts on coins. Also try to stick with larger reputable dealers like Northeast or Apmex, who have a good reputation, a one week no questions asked return policy to give you some time to evaluate coins after you get them in-hand, and also have a good selection of slabbed and raw Morgans. You can help avoid buying counterfeits of Morgans by having a 40x loupe or a scope and becoming familiar with a site called VamWorld ... Link to VamWorld 2.0 The site has a complete listing of all known Morgan varieties, with descriptions and pictures of die markers. If you can attribute a Morgan you are evaluating to a particular VAM number, with matching die markers, you can be pretty sure it's not a counterfeit. It is not the end-all-tool for confirming legit Morgans as there are some counterfeits that even copy the die markers. However, there is typically a loss of detail in general and in particular of the die markers with those counterfeits. You can also of course post coins here on the forum where you have questions about the grade or if its a counterfeit. There are many very experienced and knowledgeable members on this forum who are willing to take the time to help newer collectors like yourself, if you are willing to put time and effort into learning. The help I have received on the forum as I progressed thru collecting Morgans has been invaluable, and is greatly appreciated. Good luck and welcome to the forum!

I am just curious why you might think it may be a coin worth submitting for grading.

It sounds like you are considering purchasing a "Details" coin. Even if it is a rare variety consider that there are likely many more unimpaired coins available of that variety. Also, I would think very carefully before going down that road, as it's a coin you need to be happy with and I assume will be keeping for a while. As an example, I am working on a complete circulation set of Morgans, and I am pretty much down to plugging holes like the 1893-S Morgan. The coin is very expensive for me, even in a very low Good to Very Good grade which have been selling in the $2,000 to $3,000 range unimpaired and about $5,000 to $6,000 for a F to VF grade. So I was seriously considering a "Details" coin, like one that was Good Details - Cleaned with clearly visible scratches for about $1.200 to $1,400. However, after thinking long and hard about it, as well as posting a few topics about it, I decided that I didn't want a Details coin just to check some box, satisfy an urge for instant gratification, or fill some hole in a collection that is all unimpaired XF to BU grades, with a few VF grades sprinkled in. I just couldn't imagine periodically going through my collection and coming to the 1893-S being the only "Details" problem coin in the collection, that also wouldn't look very good in the set being a lower grade. So, I decided instant gratification wasn't my goal, and I am putting aside a little at a time into a special slush fund for that coin, which maybe I will get unimpaired at a decent grade one day down the road. Your mileage may vary. No. But people use various rules of thumb I have heard, also discussed above, like drop 1 grade or use 1/3 off for a coin that is still in decent condition, or drop 2 grades or use 1/2 off for a coin with clearly visible problems. Again, your mileage may vary. Also, since you seem to be a newer collector, I would highly recommend you become more familiar with coins and coin collecting in general, and any coin series you may be interested in, before purchasing any coins. See the following topic by @Sandonwhich has recommendations for newer collector resources. Link: Resources For Newer Collectors

If you stick around reading topics as they come up and posting coins you have questions about you will learn quite a lot about coins and errors, and of course the references in the topic Sandon linked above are invaluable for a newer collector.

It does look a little like an upside down 2, but the font may be wrong for that coin ... its hard to tell with just that one pic.. Also, copper is a very soft metal and can be pushed around by hits very easily, and there do appear to be hits and shelf doubling on the coin. It could also be a legit error if the lettering was hand punched, but I don't believe that is the case. Posting pics of the full obverse and reverse of the coin would be helpful in further evaluating that coin.

To answer your question more directly they are not the same. A coin graded G-4 is more valuable than one graded "Good Details" as the latter is a problem coin that is less desirable to collectors. Also, info on this webpage may be helpful ... https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-grading/details-grading/

You could also end up with minor contact marks on the coin similar to cabinet rub marks called "flip rub" from sliding the coin in and out of the flip. And how careful do you think the TPG's are with the flips trying to crank through coins like making cupcakes. Also note that for the average coin from the mint you will likely end up loosing money submitting it for grading when you compare what you could sell the coin for in the OGP compared to what you could sell the coin for slabbed less the cost of grading.

Keep the coin in the original government packaging (OGP) as there is a possibility of the coin being subjected to contaminants if removed. It would also be a waste of about $80 to have it graded when there really is no reason to have that done for the average coin.

Out of curiosity, I showed the picture of the coin to someone I know who is a metallurgist. It appears the missing fragment of the coin was caused by some kind of impact damage the coin was subjected to after it was struck. There is a variation in the depth of the hole left by the fragment being displaced, combined with the appearance of there being depressed and deformed metal in that area. Therefore, it is not likely a planchet delamination error or anything that occurred during striking. If the TPG knows what they are looking at it would likely end up being a "Details" grade due to PMD.

I completely agree to put the microscope aside and just use a 7x to 10x loupe or magnifying glass (my choice per my grandfather). When I first got a scope a while ago I was finding all kinds of things that sent me down rabbit holes, only to find out that even if there were errors (usually not) there almost certainly wouldn't be any extra value since it wasn't visible with no magnification (preferable) or a loupe. Now the only time the scope comes out is to verify something I am seeing with the mag glass or to evaluate die markers.

You might be right that a possible matching coin is called out as having PMD as circular groves like you describe can be caused by coin wrappers,

Good overall approach to get a better handle on the coins they have. It will also make it easier for dealers to give them an estimate. However, values from the Red Book or other sources is an issue with the collection being mostly raw coins without grades.