EagleRJO

PS collector = Proof Set collector??

Talking about mint sets @Mr.Bill347has a pretty impressive collection.

I assume that was bidding for the Unc - Details 1934-S you were talking about. Keep in mind that the person who won the bid may have been willing to go much higher, and you can get sucked into that battle, with just one more bid increment repeatedly, and possibly pay much more than intended. There will be more, which is what I keep telling myself every time the bids go over my target numbers for about a half dozen to a dozen coins every week, over and over. I sometimes feel like its "Groundhog Day" with the bidding just being short. 50% is probably a little too aggressive, but may be worth a shot considering its a common key date. Good luck with the others that come up.

Nice! I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of sets complete this winter, including my Morgan set and possibly yours too!

My understanding is that for authenticity you need to compare the location, position and shape of the stars, liberty, pedestal, eagle, arrows, etc. which I did but the stars look off. Attached is the 1878-S trade dollar I'm looking into as well as an example 1878-S T$1 I used for comparison. It looks pretty good to me, but another set of eyes on the coin would be appreciated.

I'm finding being patient is really paying off, and of course the right place at the right time. However, I think LDH is looking for something right away, so I don't think the discount numbers for shopping around verses FMV would really apply. For the Morgan I think the 2/3 to 3/4 FMV discussed above for a cleaned coin would be reasonable. For the key date Peace dollar you may find variable discounted numbers, but the potential for a greater impaired discount is there. Looks like you are on the way to a complete set with the AU-55 1934-S, and if you want to upgrade that to Uncirculated that can be done over time considering whatever discount you can get and selling the AU-55, but I would upgrade that to an unimpaired MS-60.

Wow, those were some great discounted purchases. Where did you get coins at such a discount? Over the past several months I have purchased about a dozen or so Morgans in that 60% to 80% discount range, and a couple closer to FMV, mostly at Great Collections. Then I hit the 1890's and for those more expensive coins, as well as a few early date CC coins, it seems like people are holding on for prices that were at the peak earlier this year. Just have to wait it out, because prices are still coming down.

Yes, actual sales for a bunch of coins where I was looking at impaired ones due to the cost. Its about 2/3 to 3/4 FMV. You can go to the GC site and check it out yourself very easily as they have archived sales easily accessible from the home page search.

I have been watching about a dozen Morgans very closely on GC, HA and eBay and the TPG labeled cleaned ones have been going for 2/3 to 3/4 of FMV. 50% might be a good target, but they just are not going for that lately. I would go to the Great Collections site and look up the going price for an UNC Details of the coin you are looking for.

@SandonI don't think the mark below the eye is coin wrapper machine damage, which is more circular and close to the edges. Attached are examples of wrapper damage on some quarters, and the following is a link with further info ... https://www.coincommunity.com/errors/wrapping-machine-damage.asp I agree with others that it looks like simple damage, perhaps just a contact mark. Interesting damage though as it does look a little like tears.

From recent prior posts LDH is working on Morgan and Peace dollar sets which he was almost finished with not long ago, where we were discussing the possibility of being more patient and saving up for the unimpaired coins which LDH tied into this thread. Perhaps @LDH Coins & Memorabiliacan clarify that for you.

I was going with XF because of all the contact marks in the fields, like in front of liberty on the obverse, as well as above and around the eagle on the reverse. I think that knocks it down from an AU to an XF+ That is what draws me to Trade Dollars, which I find very interesting. I was trying to decipher the chop marks for a few I have, and apparently they represent the traders who were using those coins.

Okay, how about a chopped US trade dollar. This one is a 1878-S Trade dollar ... see attached. Looks like XF grade only because of all the contact marks in the fields, and a $350 NGC Value. What do you guys think of the grade?

We are not talking about cleaned Saints. From past discussions with LDH I believe we are talking about Morgans or similarly Peace dollars. I think the different type of coin series with vastly and distinctly different coin materials such as gold vs silver should be addressed separately.

What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

Why do you want to "send this coin", which I assume means to a TPG for grading.. Submittal cost for grading by a TPG like NGC or PCG$ would be around $100 all-in, which exceeds the value of the coin. Also, welcome to the forum.

It may be a high grade AU coin, but better pics would need to be posted to give you a better idea on grade. Or even better, you can go to PCG$ CoinFacts and compare your coin in-hand to the graded coins to come up with a grade ... https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/category/buffalo-nickel-1913-1938/83 In any event I agree it would not be worth it to submit the coin to a TPG for grading at about a $100 all-in grading cost ... https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/united-states/nickels/24/ As others have stated, soaking the coin in acetone may remove much of that "pvc damage" to the coin. Just don't get impatient and scrape the coin with things like toothpicks as that will damage the coin forever. It helps to crop photos, like the attached.

That was addressing the OP's comments who stated ... "PS: Please remember patience is not my strong suit in my OCD mind LOL". The OP was previously advised by some that it's better to save up and put some more money into problem free coins.

It looks like only some of the lettering on the obverse is doubled. Where is the other doubling?

When looking at options for my Morgan set I was not considering any harshly cleaned or nasty coins, but I was considering some lightly cleaned coins. The coins I purchase are almost exclusively raw coins, so I expect that the coins have been cleaned at some point in the past even without the obvious indicators. I have heard rumors that like 95% of the older silver dollars have been cleaned, so the key for me is how the coin presents (e.g. are there obvious scratches or hairlines from a cleaning, and for AU coins how much luster is remaining). For my favorite BU coins, I expect luster consistent with brilliant, choice or gem conditions, which eliminates many coins with a light cleaning. For circulated VF or XF coins luster isn't that important to me. Bottom line is I would buy an AU graded coin verses an UNC - Details problem coin, or an XF graded coin verses an AU - Details, (depending on the target price points) and there would be no waiting to save up which you seem to be adverse to.

I have been struggling with similar issues working on a complete circulation set of Morgan silver dollars, to the point where I was considering a whizzed 1893-S due to the cost of that coin, as well as some impaired early date CC marks. For lightly cleaned coins, I have heard of either dropping one grade or using 2/3 to 3/4 FMV. However, in the end I decided to just drop one or two grades and get unimpaired coins.

I am going to have to borrow that affirmative concessional denial one day.

Thanks Bill, that does give me a bit more info. But that coin from Apmex doesn't have the chop marks I find interesting. This is the one with chop marks posted above ... https://www.apmex.com/product/216623/great-britain-silver-trade-dollar-xf-chopmarks I'm really looking for additional info on the coin series and authentication, like with NGC VarietyPlus but I don't see the coin I'm interested in listed there.

I don't collect British coins, but I do collect US trade dollars and in particular ones with chop marks. I came across the attached raw 1909 British trade dollar I liked because of the chop marks, and was thinking of bidding on it but I know very little about these coins. I did find an NGC price guide ... https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/great-britain-dollar-km-t5-1895-1935-cuid-1202269-duid-1334864 However, I didn't find any varieties info to evaluate the coin or other info like the difference between a 1909/8B verses a 1909-B, etc. Any help or good sites to go to for these coins would be appreciated.

And do NOT get impatient and try to use something, like a toothpick, to further loosen any gunk. I already knew this but tried it with a garbage coin just to check out the results, and everything may look great until you get out the loupe to look at the coin. Very clear scratches or scrape marks no matter how careful you think you are being!