1879 Morgan Dollar — help with grade and value 1 1

[dee836]

Hi gang, first time poster here.. recently received a jar of old coins from a relative, and this one stuck out as being in relatively good condition, especially for being so old.

What grade would you give this coin? What would a dealer pay me for this? Thanks in advance for any help!

(Going to post the reverse pic as a separate reply due to total file size being reached with just the obverse pic) 

[dee836]

[RWB]

Common date in circulated condition. Might be worth $25-$30 or about silver melt. (Not enough to by one dinner in a nice restaurant.)

[dprince1138]

Very nice coin.  Right off hand, I would give it a grade of XF+
Here is an example rated MS67

Market value of an 1879 Morgan dollar coin at a rating of XF is approximately $50.

 

[Greenstang]

Looking on eBay for 1879 Morgan’s in similar condition, they are going for $30-40.00.  
There were nearly 15 million struck so quit common unless in higher grades.

[Sandon]

    Welcome to the NGC chat board.

   Your 1879 Morgan dollar, a relatively common date, appears to be in Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated condition and has current retail list values of $40 to $55 or so. A dealer would probably pay $30 or so for it. I have assumed that the coin has not been "cleaned" or polished, which can't always be assessed from photographs.

   Many, though not all, Morgan dollar issues are still common even in uncirculated grades because hundreds of millions were retained by the government as backing for a form of currency known as "silver certificates" and not distributed to the public until as late as 1964.  Their current prices are largely the result of demand rather than rarity.

   

    

[Coinbuf]

Welcome to the forum.

On 11/29/2023 at 2:40 PM, dprince1138 said:

Very nice coin.  Right off hand, I would give it a grade of XF+
Here is an example rated MS67

Market value of an 1879 Morgan dollar coin at a rating of XF is approximately $50.

 

 

I would advise caution in following or listening to the advice of dprince that I have quoted above, he showed up on this forum very recently and has proven to the membership that he knows little to nothing about coins.   A telltale sign of how little he knows is that there is no grading term anywhere in existence or used by any knowledgeable collectors or dealers of XF+

While your coin may look "in relatively good condition" most collectors and dealers would consider it worth approximately it's weight in silver as it is a common date and readily available in much better condition than your coin shows in the photos.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Coinbuf

[EagleRJO]

On 11/29/2023 at 2:52 PM, dee836 said:

What grade would you give this coin? What would a dealer pay me for this?

I agree with a XF grade as there appears to be some minor wear such as on the eagles breast, as well as some rub marks.  The value would be around $50 using the NGC Price guide, but that would be what a dealer would sell the coin for.  So a dealer would likely offer around 2/3 to 1/2 that.

Edited November 30, 2023 by EagleRJO

[dprince1138]

Rather than considering to sell to a dealer , I would recommend an ebay auction.

[powermad5000]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Please ignore the post by dprince 1138. He has stated incorrect and inaccurate information across all parts of these forums. As Coinbuf stated, there is no XF+ grade, only XF. While I would say your coin would qualify for the lowest XF grade of XF 40, I am concerned by the blackened areas around the date, stars, and motto on the obverse and I would lean that at least the obverse was cleaned at some time in the past. If this coin was given an XF details grade, I would say it would only sell for around $20-25 as there are many examples of this date and (P) mintmark in much higher grades. Morgans with no mintmark on the reverse were struck at the Philadelphia Mint and are considered (P).

[Mike Meenderink]

Most of these guys got close to your coins grade but not really.... Unfortunately, the coin has been cleaned. It grades out at AU (55) Details/ Improperly or Harshly Cleaned. A dealer would give you just below melt value for this coin. PS: There are grading guides available to help you learn grading coins. The ANA Grading Standards 6th edition by Bressett (edit) & Bowers is an excellent desk top reference for quickly learning and then assisting in grading raw coins. Many other books are available on these subjects. Save yourself the time and headache of having to ask people everything about coins find out for yourself. After the key basics you will be off and running!

Edited November 30, 2023 by Mike Meenderink

[dee836]

Thanks everyone for the responses! The coin has a lot flatter of an appearance usually; I was just trying to catch the details so I caught it at the right angle in the light. I'm pretty sure the coin has not been cleaned although I could see how the lighting makes it appear as such. I'm going to take this and the handful of other silver coins to a local dealer to sell, and the rest (lots of Kennedy half dollars and other Morgan dollars) to the bank since it seems they really aren't worth much more than face value. The coins hold no sentimental value to me. I looked up the details of the other silver coins and they also seem to sell in circulated condition for about their weight in silver, which I assume I can do at any reputable coin dealer in town. It was nice to learn a little bit about the world of coin collecting along the way, and I especially enjoyed learning about the silver certificate stuff from @Sandon

[Sandon]

On 11/30/2023 at 2:09 PM, dee836 said:

I'm going to take this and the handful of other silver coins to a local dealer to sell, and the rest (lots of Kennedy half dollars and other Morgan dollars) to the bank since it seems they really aren't worth much more than face value.

   Don't take any Morgan dollars or any Kennedy half dollars dated before 1971 to the bank!  All Morgan dollars (1878-1904 and 1921) and Peace dollars (1921-28 and 1934-35) contain over three quarters of a troy ounce of silver and are worth over $19.50 in silver alone at current prices, and they are generally worth some premium over silver value. There are also premium and rare dates and mints in each of these series. For example, if your 1879 Morgan dollar had a "CC" mintmark, it could be worth around $1,000. Kennedy half dollars dated 1964, like silver dollars and dimes, quarters and other half dollars dated before 1965, are 90% silver. The half dollars currently contain over $9 in silver. Kennedy half dollars dated from 1965 through 1969 are 40% silver and currently worth over $3.50 in silver. (Pieces dated 1970, also 40% silver, were only issued in collectors' sets.)

   You should check your silver coins for rare issues before selling them for silver. If you don't have a coin book such as the "Redbook", see NGC Coin Price Guide and Values | NGC, a retail (dealer selling price) guide for a general idea. See U.S. Silver Coin Melt Values | Silver Dollar Melt Value | NGC (ngccoin.com) for daily silver values of U.S. silver coins. Dealers will pay a discount from the retail or full silver values, the discount being less for items valued only as silver than those with collector value.

[Coinbuf]

On 11/30/2023 at 12:09 PM, dee836 said:

Thanks everyone for the responses! The coin has a lot flatter of an appearance usually; I was just trying to catch the details so I caught it at the right angle in the light. I'm pretty sure the coin has not been cleaned although I could see how the lighting makes it appear as such. I'm going to take this and the handful of other silver coins to a local dealer to sell, and the rest (lots of Kennedy half dollars and other Morgan dollars) to the bank since it seems they really aren't worth much more than face value. The coins hold no sentimental value to me. I looked up the details of the other silver coins and they also seem to sell in circulated condition for about their weight in silver, which I assume I can do at any reputable coin dealer in town. It was nice to learn a little bit about the world of coin collecting along the way, and I especially enjoyed learning about the silver certificate stuff from @Sandon

Agree with @Sandon take all the Morgan and silver coins to your local coin dealer to sell, all are worth more than the face value.

[dee836]

On 11/30/2023 at 2:02 PM, Sandon said:

   Don't take any Morgan dollars or any Kennedy half dollars dated before 1971 to the bank!  All Morgan dollars (1878-1904 and 1921) and Peace dollars (1921-28 and 1934-35) contain over three quarters of a troy ounce of silver and are worth over $19.50 in silver alone at current prices, and they are generally worth some premium over silver value. There are also premium and rare dates and mints in each of these series. For example, if your 1879 Morgan dollar had a "CC" mintmark, it could be worth around $1,000. Kennedy half dollars dated 1964, like silver dollars and dimes, quarters and other half dollars dated before 1965, are 90% silver. The half dollars currently contain over $9 in silver. Kennedy half dollars dated from 1965 through 1969 are 40% silver and currently worth over $3.50 in silver. (Pieces dated 1970, also 40% silver, were only issued in collectors' sets.)

   You should check your silver coins for rare issues before selling them for silver. If you don't have a coin book such as the "Redbook", see NGC Coin Price Guide and Values | NGC, a retail (dealer selling price) guide for a general idea. See U.S. Silver Coin Melt Values | Silver Dollar Melt Value | NGC (ngccoin.com) for daily silver values of U.S. silver coins. Dealers will pay a discount from the retail or full silver values, the discount being less for items valued only as silver than those with collector value.

Thanks for this timely advice! I found several more of the Kennedy half dollars that are dated before 1971 (and will look into the collectability of these before selling them for silver. Also, I misspoke earlier regarding having lots of other Morgan dollars — I only have 2 Morgan dollars, the rest are actually Eisenhower dollars which seem to be worth only face value. Other than the 2 Morgan dollars and the 16 pre-1971 Kennedy half dollars, I have one Peace dollar (in very grungy condition though) and 2 Franklin half dollars. I also have 14 Susan B. Anthony dollars (all dated 1979) but it seems these are only worth face value. 

So the coins going to the bank on my next trip into town are gonna be these:

• Eisenhower dollars 
• Kennedy half dollars dated 1971 and later
• Susan B. Anthony dollars

 

[J P M]

On 11/30/2023 at 3:25 PM, dee836 said:

Thanks for this timely advice! I found several more of the Kennedy half dollars that are dated before 1971 (and will look into the collectability of these before selling them for silver. Also, I misspoke earlier regarding having lots of other Morgan dollars — I only have 2 Morgan dollars, the rest are actually Eisenhower dollars which seem to be worth only face value. Other than the 2 Morgan dollars and the 16 pre-1971 Kennedy half dollars, I have one Peace dollar (in very grungy condition though) and 2 Franklin half dollars. I also have 14 Susan B. Anthony dollars (all dated 1979) but it seems these are only worth face value. 

So the coins going to the bank on my next trip into town are gonna be these:

• Eisenhower dollars 
• Kennedy half dollars dated 1971 and later
• Susan B. Anthony dollars

 

I wish you luck some banks are getting fussy and do not want to take those coins.