Which way would you go in your collecting?

[nwcs]

I posted this on the other board, but thought I'd get another perspective here. Which would you do, sell a lot of your decent (100-500 dollar) coins to get 1 really nice (2000-5000) coin or not?

 

What got me thinking was a bust dollar on Legend's website. If I sold all of my PCGS morgans, I'd have enough to buy it and maybe another 1000 coin. But then I'd have 2 coins instead of 20-30 morgans with rainbows, bright whites, and other colorations. Was curious what your tradeoff would be or if you wouldn't make it.

 

Neil

 

[GP_]

Hard to say. But I dont think I would be able to part with the really nice rainbows! maybe sell off some of the more common and not as "eye appealing" coins and then save up to get the great coin. I wouldnt want to cut my collection down to one maybe two coins. What fun is that? I think having a few really nice coins in my collection would be more satisfying than having just one really nice coin in my collection.

 

But if you decide to sell some rainbow morgans, let me know!

[nwcs]

Yeah, it's one of the down sides of not having lots of $$$ for coins. BTW, I own that icon. I haven't holdered it yet. Got it at a local coin shop for $28 so the profit on that coin will be nice whenever/if-ever I sell it. I guess I get Bust Dollar coin envy sometimes.

[EVillageProwler]

I sold off nearly my entire Morgan collection a while back to finance the purchase of an 1874-CC Trade Dollar in MS63PQ.

 

EVP

 

[Edited to add that my Morgans were all non-descript specimens and easily replaced. Some were PL's and DMPL's, but still nothing really special.]

 

[Android]

My problem is that I never sell anything! I just can't seem to part with a coin once I buy it. I can't even sell the ones that I have since upgraded. Having one or two really expensive coins wouldn't do it for me either. The more coins the better. It's a lot of fun to look through parts of my collection that I haven't looked at in awhile. "Re-discovering" them is part of what makes this hobby so fun for me. I would certainly love to have a couple very rare and expensive coins only as part of my otherwise growing collection.

 

Andy

[jtryka]

That's a tough one, and like Android, I have a tough time selling anything, even junk silver! If it was to help another set, then I might do it, like selling off my Morgans to buy one key date Saint for that set, well then I might do it. But do whatever your heart tells you will be more fulfilling long term. If your bust dollar envy subsides in a few months, then where will you be?

[nwcs]

True. I've been thinking about that aspect as well. Once the cool factor wears off. And I do like morgans. I guess I'm thinking more from an investment standpoint with these than from a collecting standpoint. I've got quite a varied collection, but most of those are <$100 coins and if I got rid of the morgans and peace dollars I would still have a lot left quantity-wise but the quality would be compressed into a small number of coins.

 

And it's true that no matter where you are, there is always something better out there that looks more appealing.

 

Neil

[jtryka]

Neil,

 

I would strongly advise against looking at the "investment" aspect of your decision. In my 20+ years in the hobby my worst disappointments have always been from the investment side. When I have bought for the joy of owning a beautiful coin, that I really enjoyed from a collector/artistic/historical perspective, I have seldom been disappointed even when the market price stayed flat or went down. If you really want to buy an early dollar to satisfy the urge, then look into some extended payment options, I know Heritage offers an extended layaway plan on coins over $1000 or $2000 (I don't remember all the details), but you can pay over time with a 1% monthly interest charge which works out to about 12% per year. This might be an option too, and it would allow you to buy one expensive coin for not much more than you would spend on single smaller coins (sorta like buying 2 $100 coins a month). Anyway, just some suggestions.

[BillJones]

Coming up with one answer here is really hard. I think my interest would fade if I sold my collection and bought one or two coins. Yes, I've aspired to owning a 1796 quarter eagle or some other coin that carries a 6 figure price tag, but then I would be lacking all the other types that I had collected before, which would not make me happy. I'm more on the side of owning a lot of coins that are worth a few to several thousand dollars as opposed to owning a couple that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

On the other hand you can look at is this way. Morgan dollars will always be around. They are on the whole very common coins. A really nice Bust Dollar could get out of your range forever. Therefore buying one now, and staring over on the Morgans could make sense.

 

I now own a couple of coins that I could not afford now or within the foreseeable future because I gave up something else to get them. Later I more or less reacquired what I had given up, and my collection is a bit stronger for that overll.

[Gunsmoke]

I have been doing exactly that...selling off my circulated coins my dad gave me, some of my proof sets and other coins that have no great value to buy better quality higher end coins.

 

Of course, my higher quality coins are nothing fantastic, but I will probably sell them off eventually and buy even higher quality ones.

 

I like quality over quantity.

[CarlWohlforth]

I used to keep everything. Then I ran out of cash. I had to choose what to sell and what to keep. The actual act of selling was a huge learning experience for me. I don't miss the vast majority of the coins I sold.

 

If I were you and still loved those Morgans I'd probably keep all or most of them. If you were changing and wanted a dollar type set or something then let the selling begin.

[nwcs]

You all have had some good things to say. And I've been thinking about it a lot. I do still enjoy the Morgans and I think I'll stick with them. Perhaps down the road I'll be able to get that Bust dollar I've always wanted since I first saw one as a teen.

 

I've done some selling, too, of some of my coins recently. You do learn a lot that way. And it changes the way you look at things. Which is one thing that helped lead me to ask the original question.

 

Neil

[RotatedRainbows]

Another point to consider is the higher the value of the coin the smaller the pool of collectors who can afford it which can sometimes make the coin harder to sell quick if you ever need to. So if you buy a bigger ticket item with investment in mind it can turn out to be less liquid and if you ever need to sell it in a hurry you may take a bigger hit then if you had several lesser priced items in which the pool of perspective buyers is much larger.

[prooflike]

I've been thinking of selling my Morgans to get one nice coin, haven't done it yet though.

[toneddollars]

SELL,SELL,SELL those toned babys to me. It is a tough decision to part with those toned morgans

[MacCoin-migration]

the smaller staff is easierly replace. you'll do even better buy morgans now you have more experence with them. good luck in whatever you deside to do.