A change of direction...........Honest opinions please!

[cpm9ball]

We have had many, many threads about "Guess the Grade", and for me, they have been alot of fun and very educational. I'll admit that I really don't know squat about much of our early coinage. Most of the time you won't see me participate in those threads, but it doesn't mean that I haven't made mental notes to see how close I can come to the actual grade. Sometimes, I am way off the mark and other times I am in the ballpark. That's okay, it all helps.

 

I thought you might be interested in expanding this from another direction. Shortly, I will post four Morgans that I acquired recently. I would like you to tell me what you would be willing to pay for each if you happened to be looking for them yourself. (No, they are not for sale!) I want you to support your valuation with the usual grade, strike, eye appeal, etc. and anything that may detract in support of your analysis. Don't worry about offending me. This is for fun and education, not for profit. Besides, I have the skin of a rhino anyway. For you dealers out there, I am not talking about Greysheet Bid/Ask although there is nothing wrong with using it as a starting point.

 

I hope this is something you will enjoy and have fun doing.

 

Chris

 

PS. The coins will be in my next post, so you will have to wait if you want to participate.

[cpm9ball]

Here they are:

 

#1 - 1885-O, VAM 17

 

#2 - 1887, VAM 11

 

#3 - 1890-S, VAM 5

 

#4 - 1896

[James_OldeTowne]

Silver's up, so I'll go 6.25 times face!

 

OK, now seriously:

 

If these were coins that I actually needed for inventory, or for whatever reason, because I believed I had a market to which to take these, here's how I'd be wanting to buy them (and let's assume these are the "correct" grades):

 

1885-O: MS-64 bid (46)

1887: MS-64 bid (46)

1890-S: MS-62 bid, which would have to be interpolated between MS-60 and MS-63 (68)

1896: MS-63 bid (37)

 

If I wanted them for my collection, I'd be willing to pay up to around 115% of these same values. As a collector, the acquisition of a coin is more important than the "margin".

 

That said, none of the coins seems so fantastic that I would just HAVE to have them, but this is mostly because they are common dates, except for the 1890-S, which is only a "fairly common" date.

 

So what's the real nitty gritty? If someone out of the blue walked these up to my table, I'd offer him about 85% of greysheet, which would be basically $165, but I immediately follow that up with a suggestion to seek better offers (I'd write up my offer). This is because I am not a Morgan dollar dealer, and don't want to become one, so I'd be buying them with the likelihood that they would languish around in stock for a long time. These coins don't move quickly at all, and is you lock up full greysheet, then you lose the utility of your cash.

 

Note that all these scenarios are based on the assumption that none of these coins is a rare VAM, or anything like that.

[cpm9ball]

Silver's up, so I'll go 6.25 times face!

 

Then you shouldn't mind taking that for the '86-O! C'mon, James, I'm really trying hard to be serious for once.

 

Chris

[James_OldeTowne]

Chris, sorry about that. I really was planning to follow up with a more serious response, which I've edited into the above post.

[jesbroken]

hello Chris

I do not personally upgrade value for VAMS or partial toning which others do. keep this in mind. Assuming the photos represent WYSIWYG I offer the following(IMHO):

 

#1 MS63 fair eye appeal obv good eye appeal rev $32-36

 

#2 AU55 Poor eye appeal(fingerprint obv/rev) $20-22

 

#3 MS62 Too much clutter/nicks on obv/rev $27-31

 

#4 MS64 Good eye appeal, smooth finish $50-60

 

Remember, just my opinion.

Jes

[cpm9ball]

Chris, sorry about that. I really was planning to follow up with a more serious response, which I've edited into the above post.

 

I knew you were just having a little fun, so I took the only course available to me. A serious jest! It worked and you really didn't have to apologize for anything. I would imagine there will be others who will do the same and I guess I am probably deserving of it. Wouldn't you say?

 

But, now we're getting somewhere although I would still ask some our friends to try to think of these coins as if they were to be part of their collection.

 

Chris

[cpm9ball]

Jes, your opinion is just as worthy as anyone's. I only hope there is enough response to this thread so that we can see some real trends from it that could be applied elsewhere.

 

Chris

[zrlevin]

Well, I am also not in the market for morgans (especially not white ones), so #2 is the only one I'd buy. I'd pay around $30 for it.

[coinman1794]

They seem like pleasing mid-grade pieces overall. My grades are as follows, and I'm sure some would change if I saw them in person, but:

 

1885-O: MS-64

1887: MS-64

1890-S: MS-63

1896: MS-65

[Bruceswar]

Coin 1 $30.00

Coin 2 $30.00

Coin 3 $25.00

Coin 4 $30.00

 

These may not be market values but that is what I would want to pay for these coins if I decided to buy one.

[michael]

$160 for all