Morgan Assistance for Upcoming Auction

[rbrown4]

I am attending an estate auction tomorrow here locally that I just found out about. There are hundreds of coins included in the auction and I am attempting somewhat to pre-screeen what I should perhaps look more closely at tomorrow before the auction. There are over 150 Morgans included in various grades/conditions. I am attaching four somewhat decent images which shows groupings of the morgans, although the coin images themselves will not be of much help to you, the years and mints are shown. I was wondering if someone with more knowledge of Morgans than I, could at least point out perhaps some key dates/VAMS to look for out of these?

 

I apologize for the poor quality of the images.

 

 

Rey

 

 

 

 

[MAULEMALL]

Where is the auction I always check the 1878's very close,There are serious VAM's that I haven't been able to locate ... Includeing the first known die pairing... Click here

[MarkFeld]

Rey, a quick glance leads me to say that, based upon the dates and condition of the coins, there is nothing worth pursuing. I apologize in advance if I missed a goodie in the group.

 

Also, I have yet to see one of those "estate auctions" (which, by the way are not always really estate auctions) where buyers end up with good coins at low prices. In fact, in the vast majority of cases, the coins aren't anything special and sell for more than they are worth, to buyers who don't know what they're doing.

[rbrown4]

Thanks Pat and Mark,

 

Actually I have yet to attend one of these Estate Auctions, my father in law told me about it today. Mostly I am going out of curiosity but thought that I would do some homework before then just to see if something does come up worth pursuing.

 

There are also some Seated Dimes, Thaler Dollars and some other miscellaneous older copper and silver coins. If anything, it will be further education for me and will be interesting to see what the coins go for.

 

Rey

[bsshog40]

I think even at mark's statement Rey, it would be cool just to check out. Like Mark said, he may have missed one goodie in there!

[cpm9ball]

Check the two 79-S to see if they are the 78 Reverse. Despite the condition, it is still a "Top 100" coin. The 86-O makes a considerable jump in value from XF to AU to MS, but I don;t see any higher grade examples in the photos. As far as VAM's go, there are more than 3,000. You'll just have to do more homework.

 

Like Mark said, you rarely find any real good bargains in these auctions. Most of the time, the dealer has cherrypicked the best and is just dumping the rest.

 

Have fun, anyway!

 

Chris

[SkyMan]

In any case, have FUN!

[WinstonWare]

I don’t know much about Morgans so I won’t comment on that. I would encourage you to attend the auction and arrive early to preview the coins. Even if you buy nothing it could be a fun experience . Let us know how it goes.

[rbrown4]

If anyone is interested in taking a closer look here is the link.

http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photopanel.cgi?listingid=305818

[rrantique]

Have fun Rey and remember dynamite comes in small packages.

Err seated dimes.

 

Holy smokes a matched pair of Colts.

 

Yer darn tooten!!

[MAULEMALL]

Have fun Rey and remember dynamite comes in small packages.

Err seated dimes.

 

Holy smokes a matched pair of Colts.

The whalter is Sweet..

[WinstonWare]

That Walther is nice Auction 1 has some seriously old guns. That might be worth bidding on

[TomB]

Bid melt unless you really know what to look for.

[rbrown4]

Thanks for all the tips and pointers. I just spent the last couple of hours going through the list, Vam World and Cherry Picker's Guide and making a listing based on Year, Mint Mark and Variety possibilities. So I have narrowed it down to a more focused approach, if I see something interesting I will then consider further examination and consideration.

 

Will also check out some Carson City GSA's that are there and a 1923 Peace (for varieties). Should be interesting and Fun.

 

Regarding the Carson City GSA's there are two photographs of them in their plastic holders. One holder says Uncirculated Silver Dollar and the other only says Silver Dollar, leaving out the word uncirculated. Any ideas or thoughts on this difference? I have not seen this before.

 

Rey

[MorganMan]

The GSA holders were labled in 2 different ways. One UNCIRCULATED Silver Dollar, and the other just Silver Dollar. The difference was either toning (yes, back then, toning was considered a negative) or either the coin had some other problem keeping it fron getting the "uncirculated" designation.

 

They even came with a card that stated the reasons for not being uncirculated.

 

I had a GSA I sold that was toned on the reverse, no other problems, and was in the "Silver Dollar" plastic.

 

Here is a photo of the card they enclosed....

 

 

MM

[MAULEMALL]

Excellent info MM...I was wondering about this Myself.

[rbrown4]

MM,

 

Thank you very much for the explanation. I was worried that there would be none, but it appears there is a definitive reason for the differences. It is always nice to learn something new.

 

Rey

[WoodenJefferson]

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me again...but no, it does appear that one Morgan is smaller for some reason. Some of those cardboard flips have huge viewing ports...what coins fit in those? I don't think I've eve seen ones that size before, if I have, I've never paid much attention?

 

Any help here?

 

Have fun Rey.

[MunkyMan95]

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me again...but no, it does appear that one Morgan is smaller for some reason. Some of those cardboard flips have huge viewing ports...what coins fit in those? I don't think I've eve seen ones that size before, if I have, I've never paid much attention?

 

Any help here?

 

Have fun Rey.

 

Silver Eagles, or large medals?

[bsshog40]

They must be for medals or something. The silver eagle is not much larger than the Morgan.

[cpm9ball]

Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. All of the holders are 2-1/2" x 2-1/2". Note that the margin surrounding the coin is considerably wider than on its 2" x 2" counterpart. It's just that the viewport varies in size to accommodate medals larger than 39mm. I use this size for my medal collection, and you can get them in varying diameters from JP's Corner.

 

Chris

[jgrinz]

Speaking of medals .. this looks interesting

 

 

Or are those Foriegn coins

[cpm9ball]

They are definitely medals, but even at 400% magnification it is hard to read any of the inscriptions through the cellophane. They might be the 3" Presidential Medals.

 

Chris

 

PS. Mike, I'll be sending you a PM shortly!

[carson city]

For starters buy all the 1893-S and 1889-CC dates !

[rrantique]

Speaking of medals .. this looks interesting

 

 

Or are those Foriegn coins

 

Bottom one is Millard Fillmore presidential medal .

[rbrown4]

Well I must say it was quite interesting at the auction. I picked up several pieces and did quite well I think. I want to thank MorganMan for explaining the "uncirculated" versus "circulated" labeling on the GSA holders last night. It came into play today. I only purchased one Morgan, the 1883 CC GSA in the "Uncirculated Silver Dollar" holder. The other 1883 that was not "uncirculated" was in not as good a shape but sold for $60.00 more. In addition, I noticed before the auction that the one I was going for was a VAM 3 - with the bar under the second 8. I was pleased. Opinions on what it would grade at please.

 

All the other Morgans in the Flips were VF-EF-AU-a few MS. Most sold for between $20.00 and $35.00 which didn't appeal to me. I saw no obvious varieties on them after looking for quite some time.

 

By the way, the medals above in the box were the Presidential Medals - 38 of them through Nixon. I will post some of the other goodies in a bit.

 

Rey

 

 

[cpm9ball]

Rey, are you sure it's the VAM3 and not the VAM3A? The VAM3A also has the bar under the "8". I noticed the die clash, and it may be that it also has the clashed "n" & "st" from IGWT. A specimen of the VAM3A in an ANACS MS63 holder sold on January 30, 2007 for $168.49, but that seems a little low to me. I think it should be worth in the $250-$300 range. Yours certainly looks like it is at least MS63 if not better. Nice pick-up!

 

Chris

[MAULEMALL]

I figured you would go for that CC

 

I think it would go 62.

 

Get the rest of the stuff out and post it.

[rbrown4]

Chris,

 

I think you are correct in it being a VAM 3A. I looked at it closely and it does appear to have the clashed n and st as shown in Vamworld. Thanks for the additional help there.

 

Here is an odd piece that I picked up today as well. Someone with knowledge of the coin making process will have to help me on this one, I know what it is but do not know what to properly call it etc. Very thin.

 

Edited to add "I thought I knew what it was"

 

I also posted a medal I picked up in the Medal/Token Post.

 

Rey

 

 

[MAULEMALL]

Someone cut it down on a lathe...