My most recent acquisition – an 1893 Morgan

[Brotherman]

I decided to put together a Morgan date set with all coins in VF to XF. I really want all the coins to have a similar look about them. I blew two months budget on this one purchase so I probably won’t be posting anything new for a while. Anyway, I just wanted to see what your thoughts were on this coin. BTW the picture is a lot brighter than the coin in hand. I had to use my scanner, I'm not that good with a camera. Oh, AND I got my Dansco 7070 album in yesterday - Woo-Hoo! There is something exciting about getting a brand new album – oh, the possibilities!

 

Hays

[TJ'S Coins]

Very nice original coin. Great acquisition! Have fun collecting them. Many would say that you are wise purchasing the rarities first ahead of the common dates.

[James_OldeTowne]

Being such a bright scan, it does make the coin look cleaned. Therefore, I took the liberty of bringing your image in, sizing it down, then hitting the old "auto adjust" button, and the result is shown below. From this new version of the scan, I think the coin looks really nice. Congratulations!

 

 

James

[MunkyMan95]

Good job, James. That scan does look a ton better. No offense to you Brotherman, does it look more like your scan, or James' scan in hand? Is it blast white, or quaintly colored?

[Brotherman]

HEY! Thanks James, that looks much more like my coin. You are much better at that that I am. Chad the James scan is more accurate, the only difference is the coin has a very slight golden hue. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been cleaned. And TJ thanks for the thumbs up. You are also correct that I'm getting the key dates first. Once I find them with the same look I'll work on the rest. Getting 1895 in this grade might be a little tough on my budget, so that one I'll get whenever I can find it and afford it.

 

Hays

[Jazzy]

That's pretty ambitious.

 

Some of the keys are going to be rather dear, even in VF.

 

Best of luck.

[Brotherman]

That's pretty ambitious.

 

Some of the keys are going to be rather dear, even in VF.

 

Best of luck.

 

Thanks jazzy, keep in mind that I'm doing a set with one coin from every year. A full set with every mint mark would be way out of my reach.

 

Hays

[Jazzy]

That's definitely more doable.

 

"Date set" generally refers to a collection of all dates and mintmarks.

 

What you're assembling is a "year set".

[MunkyMan95]

Not really, you could do a date/mint set combo. Not a complete set, but in the process of getting your date set pick up a CC and an O, and a D, P, and S and there you have it.

[crazyboutcoins-migration]

Nice pick up Hays!! I also believe that it's best to get the rarer coins and then fill around it. Good luck on the set!

[Brotherman]

Dansco makes an album (#7171) for this and they call it a date set - that's the only reason I called it one. Collectors probably call it a year set - I think that sounds more appropriate.

 

How do most people do this? I mean do they fill the album with only one mint mark? The last four spots in the album are for the different mint marks... I guess that would be ok if not a little boring. I think I'll probably get different mint marks all the way through. I'm more interested in getting coins that look similar to each other. It's fine with me if the wear is a little more on one coin as long as it's not too much. I'm aiming for all the coins to have the same overall color so no one coin jumps out.

 

Hays

[Morgannut]

A "Year Set" is certainly a great way to do Morgans for reasonable money. I don't think the 1895 in VF35 is more than a few hundred from the SF Mint. The problem is having the degree of circulation and toning all match, so taking your time is just fine.

[James_OldeTowne]

I have been working on a date-set of Morgans in MS-60/63 for about 18 months now. Actually, it's been complete for well over six months .... EXCEPT for any 1895, which is a tough tough tough stopper issue for the date set. They are available for $1000 or less in AU, or $5000 or more in MS-63, but just trying to find a decent one that is MS-60 for around $2000 is near impossible!

 

James

[Morgannut]

The 1895S comes with a horrible number of marks even in MS64. And the luster and strike on the 1895O is equally bad. That's why many collectors, even with MS sets, go for an AU example of the S and O mints. I can't imagine how marked up and poorly struck with damaged luster an MS-60 1895 would look like--but it would be pretty bad!! I think either an AU53 or a just missed AU graded EF45 is the best for the money even if the dumb Registry doesn't give much in points. Good luck--it takes looking.