Help me with my inherited collection: 1881 Morgans

[Dover]

Hi, standard story, I inherited my step mom's coin collection and need help understanding what I have and where to sell them. It is not large and consists of many proof sets from the late 50's through the 70's. Lots of lower grade individual coins.

 

I think, based on the red book, these might be something special. Please help me grade and understand the value of them. Also feel free to point me to a better place to post if needed.

 

Thanks!

 

[PaigeAM-migration]

Hello!

I have a similar situation. I have a collection where I sold a lot of my gold pieces to one Coin Dealer - BIG MISTAKE!! He paid me much less than they were worth. I went to several people, thought I knew what I was doing. Just STUDY the hobby for a long while, even if you do need the money. Buy books, or go to the Library. I joined NGC and got my coins graded after that before selling. Invest a little to save a LOT!

Sorry I cannot answer your questions but I am sure you will get some answers on this board. Good Luck!

PaigeAM

[pendragon1998]

This article is a good place to start.

 

Paige, I wish you'd seen it before you got ripped off

 

What you need to know: Inherited Coin Collections

[rrantique]

These look like a very nice group of uncirculated 1881-S Morgans. (thumbs u

Of course grading can't be determined by photos .

 

 

[Dover]

This article is a good place to start.

 

Paige, I wish you'd seen it before you got ripped off

 

What you need to know: Inherited Coin Collections

 

Thanks, I read that and it lead me here. That's why there are not a lot of scans of old worn out pennies that are hard to read. I found some that from the red book are actually worth a little bit. I thought these were special and in a case of 5 struck me as odd.

 

So, do I break these 5 up? get them graded? or??

[prudden]

This article is a good place to start.

 

Paige, I wish you'd seen it before you got ripped off

 

What you need to know: Inherited Coin Collections

 

Thanks, I read that and it lead me here. That's why there are not a lot of scans of old worn out pennies that are hard to read. I found some that from the red book are actually worth a little bit. I thought these were special and in a case of 5 struck me as odd.

 

So, do I break these 5 up? get them graded? or??

 

That's a toughie. The 81 S is a pretty common Morgan in almost all grades. In MS 64 graded by NGC or PCGS they sell on ebay for $45-$60 each. Yours look to be MS 64, some could be better.I can't tell from the pictures. But if any are what's called "prooflike" that will increase the value.Prooflike Morgans generally have nicely frosted Liberty head and letters on the obverse(face) and the same on the back except the eagle will be frosted. Then the low surfaces (flat parts) will be mirror like. You could read newsprint with them.

The cost of grading is about $16.00 per coin.

[michael]

i would grade the morgan dollars very choice bu

[bsshog40]

As has been stated, the pics are a little small to try to try to grade these with any somewhat accuracy. Also as stated, these are quite common Morgans. they look to be uncirculated and probably at least MS63. Some may be higher. Probably not worth grading, but still are nice Morgans.

[dooly]

GO TO VAM WORLD and see if there are any in the lot !! .. you never know till you look

 

dooly

[Dover]

Help with these, please. grade, value, where to sell?

 

[prudden]

I found a few websites on the 1935 Pony Express Jubilee token. Here is one that is selling this in Uncirculated condition. Afraid it's not worth all that much.

 

http://www.rarecoin.com/collect/medals_tokens.html

[Dover]

okay, have some more: there is no coloring on the coin, that is from the scanner.

 

 

 

[Dover]

how does one know whether these are actual proof sets or just something someone put together? One says proof set, the other does not.

 

 

[wtc911coins]

Wow some nice morgans you have there I would get them graded and take it from there

[Smilie Puss]

[how does one know whether these are actual proof sets or just something someone put together? One says proof set, the other does not.]

 

Whether a set was assembled at the USMint or by an entity after released from the Mint makes no difference. It becomes a set so long as all the coins are the same state. That is all proofs coins or all business strikes(coins intended for circulation).

 

Research coin states by buying or borrowing numismatic books or magazines on the subject.

 

Compare the same denomination coins as to field surface reflectivity and the raised poritions called the devises.As a general rule its the surface field reflectivity or the raised device matte or cameo finish (lettering, numbers, or figure) that can be used to tell what is a proof and what is a business strike depending on the type coin and the era it was minted.

 

If inexperenced in a coins condition or mint/proof state take the coins to a relyable dealer or experienced numismatist to determine or verfiy condition or state.

 

For the examples you have shown in the photo's it may not be easy to differentiate what is a business strike and what is a proof. The Jefferson nickels look to be both proofs or prooflike business strikes.

 

For some type coins a mint mark can indicate its state either proof or business strike.

 

The really only fool proof (pun intended) way is to examine the coins surface under magnification inorder to see identification marks made by the dies used to strike either the business or proof coins. This is assuming you know what these marks are and where exactly they are located.

 

Some marks called die polish marks ( a misnomer, its the incuse marks on die that remain after the dies have been polished) that leave a raised line or cud on the coins surface.

 

Another identifier can orginate from a mark on the master or working hub transfered to the working die and then transfered again to the planchet during the strike.. These lines or marks will leave an incuse or groove like mark that would be different than a scratch made during improper handling.

 

Hope this wasn't too much information for your handle. Good luck with your inherted collection.

[physics-fan3.14]

Ummm.... I disagree with several of your points, snow.

 

 

Whether a set was assembled at the USMint or by an entity after released from the Mint makes no difference. It becomes a set so long as all the coins are the same state. That is all proofs coins or all business strikes(coins intended for circulation).

 

A US mint assembled proof set, with government packaging, will usually garner a premium over a post mint assembled set. An unopened government sealed set will garner much larger premiums, for the chance that there are cameos, varieties, or errors.

 

What you have Dover are two sets which have been assembled outside the mint. Often, these put together sets will be the low grade leftovers after dealers or cherrypickers sort through them and submit the high grade coins for grading. This is not always the case, however, because sometimes people put the proof sets in these holders because they are sturdier and offer more protection. This picture shows what an original proof set of the time looks like:

 

For the examples you have shown in the photo's it may not be easy to differentiate what is a business strike and what is a proof. The Jefferson nickels look to be both proofs or prooflike business strikes.

 

I see nothing in either of the photos that would indicate any of the coins are not proofs. Given the lighting and angles, I am reasonably certain that all coins in those sets are proofs.

 

For some type coins a mint mark can indicate its state either proof or business strike.

 

Just to clarify, proofs of this era were all minted at the Philadelphia mint and had no mintmark. It wasn't until 1968 that proofs were minted at the San Francisco mint and bore the S mintmark, and even then, business strikes of some denominations continued for many years with the same S mintmark.

 

The really only fool proof (pun intended) way is to examine the coins surface under magnification inorder to see identification marks made by the dies used to strike either the business or proof coins. This is assuming you know what these marks are and where exactly they are located.

Its not often that one has to examine die markers to determine if its proof or business strike, especially on proofs of this era. For classic proofs where all the dies have been well studied and die markers known, this might be a good method, especially if the proofs are impaired and resemble a business strike. However, for modern proofs most of the dies have not been studied and thus you wouldn't have any idea if what you saw proved one thing or another. Of course, very few of the modern proofs ever got to the point where it would be hard to tell the difference. For this to happen, the die would have had to strike so many coins that the mirrors degraded and the details wore down. This of course ignores the double striking under higher pressure that defines a proof in the first place.

 

This whole rabbit trail has been non-essential to your question, Dover, I just wanted to clear some things up. However, just for your information, the best way to tell if you have a business strike or a proof is the square edges. A proof coin will usually have very sharp, square edges, whereas a business strike will have rounded edges. I have heard that this is caused by the different methods of ejecting the coin from the striking press, but I'm not sure about that.