Im looking at these morgans to possibly add to my collection. what do ya think?

[bucs0981-migration]

im goin to place some bids on ebay and maybe land a couple of these.... your opinions on grades and anything else youd like to add (when to know you are gettin ripped off ect) would be appreciated!

 

These are the coins and what the sellers "say" the grade of the coin is

 

1898 - s UNC/CHOICE UNC

 

 

1898 - O- Near GEM BU

 

 

1896 - O - AU

 

1895 - S VF++

 

1891- CC UNC MS

 

again thanks

[jgrinz]

Hmm Pictures ALL Looked photo touched up to hide things .. You own these already ??

I am hesitant on them albiet they being some of the rarer dates and MM's

 

 

[harvey8542]

If you can get them for melt or a little higher go for it .

 

[DJCoinz]

I'd say pass on all of them.

[MikeInFL]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I would pass on each one of these coins.

 

The third and fourth coins look cleaned, and the first one may be too. The second coin has a hit on the cheek that I find very distracting. The last coin (the one with only a link), and the first coin too, have been photographed in such a way that any problems would not be obvious in the photos -- always be careful when you see coins photographed in this manner for sale (at a slight angle with light reflecting off the fields).

 

FWIW, none of these coins are particularly rare and better examples should not be tough to find with a little patience (and believe me I understand how difficult of a thing that is). Please continue to post coins before you buy them, as I'm sure it will save you a lot of money (and heartache) and help with your numismatic education.

 

Respectfully submitted and hoping this helps...Mike

 

p.s. I would be VERY careful from buying from sellers that have terms such as those from the linked auction: "The cost of listing, eBay charges will be paid by the buyer plus 10% return charge." That says, to me, that the seller doesn't believe in their own coins, and if the seller doesn't believe in them, why should you or I? Personally, I don't buy from sellers that have any return/restocking charges, and you should consider this too, particularly if you are relatively inexperienced.

 

[bsshog40]

I'm gonna have to say in order:

The first looks cleaned.

The second looks fine to me but the nics would probably set it around MS61.

Third looks cleaned.

Fourth looks cleaned.

[TomB]

They don't appear to be very nice coins and are all overgraded. The 1898-S is clearly an AU, the 1898-O looks like an MS61/MS62 coin with no chance of it being better than that, the 1896-O is a cleaned, low-end EF and the 1895-S is a harshly cleaned F. These would be wasted money.

[MarkFeld]

My best-guess grade assessments based on the images are as follows:

 

1898-S AU55-58

1898-O MS63

1896-O cleaned, net gade XF

1895-S cleaned (harshly so on the reverse), net grade Fine

 

Considering the descriptions of the coins vs. how they actually appear, I'd pass.

 

Also, the 1891-CC linked to Ebay is imaged in such a way as to not allow a good view of the coin and I'd avoid it, as well.

[hoard]

The first and forth coins clearly have had a very harsh cleaning, hairlines all over them. The third coin looks dull probably equating to multiple dips and cleaning. The second coin actually looks ok but definately not Gem BU, if you can grab it inexpensively i.e. melt value you would likely be fine for this coin.

[hoard]

On my monitor I am seeing what appears to be hairlines all over the field of the first coin.

[EZ_E]

FWIW, none of these coins are particularly rare and better examples should not be tough to find with a little patience (and believe me I understand how difficult of a thing that is). Please continue to post coins before you buy them, as I'm sure it will save you a lot of money (and heartache) and help with your numismatic education.

 

Respectfully submitted and hoping this helps...Mike

 

I'll put my Vic Easley to that!

 

[font:Comic Sans MS]An education on these boards is free but yet is priceless![/font]

 

There's a learning curve for all so it's best if you learn it here before it results in a big financial overall loss. (thumbs u

[CHABSENTIA]

I would have to agree that most of these coins have been cleaned. I collect Morgans and would not consider any of them.

 

i would also be concerned that the pictures were taken in order to deceive.

 

The third problem is that the Buyer will have to pay postage each way as well as a 10% restocking fee.

 

If you could but 5 coins for a Melt value of $80.00 and pay $5.00 each way for postage and then $8.00 for restocking then you will have paid a total of 18.00 just to purchase them and return them when you could be looking for better value.

[bucs0981-migration]

what wouldbe melt value?

[bucs0981-migration]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I would pass on each one of these coins.

 

The third and fourth coins look cleaned, and the first one may be too. The second coin has a hit on the cheek that I find very distracting. The last coin (the one with only a link), and the first coin too, have been photographed in such a way that any problems would not be obvious in the photos -- always be careful when you see coins photographed in this manner for sale (at a slight angle with light reflecting off the fields).

 

FWIW, none of these coins are particularly rare and better examples should not be tough to find with a little patience (and believe me I understand how difficult of a thing that is). Please continue to post coins before you buy them, as I'm sure it will save you a lot of money (and heartache) and help with your numismatic education.

 

Respectfully submitted and hoping this helps...Mike

 

p.s. I would be VERY careful from buying from sellers that have terms such as those from the linked auction: "The cost of listing, eBay charges will be paid by the buyer plus 10% return charge." That says, to me, that the seller doesn't believe in their own coins, and if the seller doesn't believe in them, why should you or I? Personally, I don't buy from sellers that have any return/restocking charges, and you should consider this too, particularly if you are relatively inexperienced.

 

i dont so dont worry, thats why i posted the pics to get advice. i didnt buy any of these coins but i choice these coins for consideration bc they seemed pretty nice.

 

i know mint state would be ideal for silveer dollars (or any coin) but is a grade XF TO AU all that bad?

 

thanks for pointing that out about the sellers terms... i didnt catch the seller demands but would def steer clear from that in the future

[BULLY]

what wouldbe melt value?

 

 

Well, melt value of course goes by the price of SILVER (or other precious metal content in a coin), as the price varies from day to day.

 

There are PLENTY of sources, but a nice simple place for Live Metal Prices is posted on the middle of NGC's homepage at: http://www.ngccoin.com/

 

Facts from "The Official RED BOOK" about the content of a Morgan Dollar"

 

26.73grams, .900 silver, .100 copper, (net weight .77344 PURE SILVER)

 

So, assuming a silver price of say $17 (not the precise current price, but just an example), take $17.00 x .77344 (silver content of a Morgan) = $13.15 Melt Value

 

In the case of examples where you are fairly certain that the coins are doctored, cleaned, or are otherwise very poor quality, it may not be unwise to factor in your S&H as well.

[TomB]

There is nothing wrong with EF to AU circulated Morgan dollars, however, there is something to be said to avoid heavily manipulated, abused and cleaned Morgan dollars. Abused Morgan dollars can simply be a moneypit that takes all your cash when you buy them, but will not return that investment when you sell.

[MikeInFL]

i know mint state would be ideal for silveer dollars (or any coin) but is a grade XF TO AU all that bad?

 

No, XF to AU is a great way to collect Morgans. Just try and find original or original-looking pieces and not ones that have been cleaned or have distracting marks. That way, when you want/need to get rid of them they will not be difficult to sell.

 

The good news is that despite their age Morgans are common, so you can afford to be both patient and picky.

 

Hope this helps...Mike

[MikeInFL]

Is there an echo in here?

[bucs0981-migration]

i know mint state would be ideal for silveer dollars (or any coin) but is a grade XF TO AU all that bad?

 

No, XF to AU is a great way to collect Morgans. Just try and find original or original-looking pieces and not ones that have been cleaned or have distracting marks. That way, when you want/need to get rid of them they will not be difficult to sell.

 

The good news is that despite their age Morgans are common, so you can afford to be both patient and picky.

 

Hope this helps...Mike

 

how do you know which ones have been cleaned and which ones havent? is it just experienced and years of collecting coins to know the difference or is there a way to tell?

 

i had a dealer look at the 1806 quarter i just received and said he told me older coins that were handed everyday most likely had been cleaned...

 

Ryan

[MikeInFL]

Ryan,

 

It comes down to experience. Posting coins to these forums and discussing them does help, but there is no substitue for seeing coins in-hand, preferably with someone with knowledge/experience (and you can trust) who can help point out the differences. Coin shows (or auction-lot viewing) is probably the best place to get this experience.

 

Unfortunately, the vast majority of older coins you see for sale have been cleaned at one time or another. That doesn't necessarily make them a bad thing -- as some cleanings are viewed as a non-issue and others make the coin's value a small percentage of what it once was -- but you should value them appropriately (which also comes with expeience, and isn't always easy). It is when sellers try to hide this fact (or buyers who don't know the difference bid an otherwise poor coin up), as you often see on eBay, that the problems start.

 

Hope this helps, and based on my own experience and opinion...Mike

 

p.s. a good education can be had by simply going to Heritage auction archives and searching for "ANACS CLEANED" and taking a look at the gazillion photos (sign up for an account if you haven't already, it's free):

 

http://coins.ha.com/common/search_results.php?Ntt=ANACS%20CLEANED&Ntk=My_ItemTitle&N=51+790+231

 

But again, THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR SEEING LOTS OF COINS IN HAND.

[bsshog40]

Coins can be cleaned in many different ways. If done correctly,while I'm not condoning or recommending, sometimes can help a coin. Most cleaned coins are done by inexperienced people and are done wrong which damages the coin. It does take experience to be able to distinguish cleaning methods. Then there are those that are pretty blatant. Hairlines are the most common signs of a coin being cleaned/conserved improperly.