Morgan silver dollars 1 1

[Wesbishop]

How do I know if a coin is worth being graded?

[Sandon]

    Welcome to the NGC forums!  (Your post would have been better placed under the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" or "U.S., World, and Ancient Coins" forums, as this forum is specifically for matters pertaining to the NGC Registry for coins that have already been third party graded.  The Administrator will likely move it to one of them.)

   Perhaps ironically, one needs to know something about the valuation of coins, including how to grade them, in order to determine whether they are worth sending to a third- party grading service such as NGC.  Your post is entitled "Morgan dollars", which range in retail value from about $25 for a well-worn common date and mint to tens of thousands of dollars for a rare date and mint or variety in superb gem uncirculated condition.  NGC grading fees alone for such coins start at $23 for coins valued at under $300 and increase to $40 for one worth up to $3,000, with higher fees for higher value tiers.  Each order (one tier only) also involves a $10 processing fee and substantial shipping and insurance costs.  NGC and PCGS have annual membership fees to obtain submission privileges in the first place.  Obviously, one wouldn't want to incur these costs unless the coins submitted are likely to be of substantially greater value. 

   If you have some Morgan dollars and are just curious about what they're worth but have no real interest in coins, I'd recommend showing them to collectors or reputable coin dealers at shops or coin shows in your area to get an opinion.  (If you can take decent photos, you can post them on the "Newbie" forum and seek feedback from the forum participants.)  If you're interested in becoming a collector yourself, you need to first "buy the book before the coin" and learn about U.S. coins and their grading yourself.  In this regard I have the following post (click on title to open) describing some essential books, publications and online resources, the most essential of which is referred to as the "Redbook", which is quite affordable.  I hope this helps.

 

[EdwinAvin]

Have to say that I fully agree with Sandon,purchase a new copy of the red book,around $20 U.S.! This will help you to make an informed decision on whether or not to send in your coins! Make sure you read and fully understand the grading of the coins you are thinking about sending in.also take care to scrutinize each coin carefully,as one small defect can Make a huge difference in overall grade and subsequent value of said coin! As Sadon stated third party grading can be very expensive,only coins that have a potentially high value should be sent in. Remember, be realistic in your grading,fully understand each coin and nuances that many issues have including weak strikes,and other issues! Hope this post finds you! 

[GoldFinger1969]

On 10/18/2022 at 10:33 PM, Wesbishop said:

How do I know if a coin is worth being graded?

Are you a collector or did somebody just give you a few random Morgan Dollars and you want to know if they are worth much more than $25 each ?

[JKK]

On 10/18/2022 at 7:33 PM, Wesbishop said:

How do I know if a coin is worth being graded?

Start by assuming it isn't.

Then ask yourself why you'd want it slabbed. It's a legit question. To preserve it? There are other, cheaper ways as good. To be "doing this right?" Many people never slab any coins; I'm not going to tell them They're Doing It Wrong, especially as I myself never slab any. To enhance the value? Okay. Figure out what you think it's worth. Ask yourself if spending $60 on it, with no guaranteed outcome, fits with that value. If it's a $25 coin, clearly, spending $60 to have it put in plastic makes no money sense. It's like load conventional open-end mutual funds, if you understand the term. What value do you get from that load that outweighs the combustion of your capital on it? Usually not enough.

While we are at it, bear in mind that nearly all new collectors overgrade and overestimate the likelihood of errors. Not true of all, but as a general rule, novices grade a couple notches high. Some dealers grade everything a notch high. So what you think is worth AU money is probably worth VF money until proven otherwise (for example). Wishful thinking is your enemy.

My best advice would be to start from the premise that a given coin has been mishandled, grades lower, and that what looks like a mint error is not. In other words, just an ordinary coin of that issue. Then seek to rule out the limiters. No wrong color? Nice. No hairlining? Cool! No doubled dies exist for that issue, thus the shelfy doubling you see is mechanical (non-valuable) doubling? Okay, good to know. Rather than have to be dragged down from hopes of early retirement, start from low expectations and see if the reality surprises you in a happy way.

Edited November 16, 2022 by JKK