morgan

[coinstuff-migration]

at ebay there is a 1881s ms62pl that sells for 139, but i offered 60 for it. they came back with 100.00 for it. is that to much for this particular year since it is at the low end of the grade? thank you

[$ilverHawk]

Go to www.numismedia.com . 1881-S MS62PL value is $43.00. MS63PL is $76.00 Those are fair retail values. $100.00 is way too much.

 

 

 

Welcome to the forum.

[cpm9ball]

Welcome to the neighborhood!

 

I agree with Hawk. $100 is way too much to pay for a 62PL. The 81S has probably the nicest strike of the entire series, and you should be able to get an MS64 for $60 and possibly an MS65 for $100. In MS64, the certified population is 108,000+ and in MS65, the certified population is 62,000+. They are quite abundant.

 

I don't know where you live, but if there are any decent coin shows in your area, you might want to check them out. I can almost guarantee that you will find an untold quantity better than 62PL at a better price.

 

Chris

[michael]

a super common date with hundreds of thousands of coins still not yet certified that are unc

 

why would you buy this date in ms-62 with prooflike surfaces that is going to highlight all the marks that a 62 usually has?

 

i would not even pay 60 usd for this coin

 

go out to different larger coin shows and look for one and i bet you will be able to get a much better coin certified and better yet raw for less than 60

 

good luck

[michael]

welcome to the boards!!

[coinstuff-migration]

i agree with all of you. the 1881 s is affordably available at any grade. i saw a ms66 pl bidding at 194.00 last look. this is the only morgan i have in a ms67 because i could afford it and it is beautiful.

[coinstuff-migration]

thank you for letting me know about that particular website. it will be very helpful.

[James_OldeTowne]

$100 is ridiculous. You can get a raw PL 1881-S for about $35 and not even have to worry about the numeric grade.

[cpm9ball]

If you think I don't like these puppies, think again!

 

So far, I have ten:

 

PCGS MS66 - Pretty amber & olive toning on the upper half of the obverse.

 

PCGS 65PL - Yes, they forgot to include MS on the insert.

 

NGC MS65 - Light amber toning on the entire reverse and very close to PL.

 

PCGS MS64 - Gorgeous amber and violet toning on the entire obverse.

 

PCGS MS64 - Light amber & violet rim toning on both obverse and reverse. This one should definitely be in a 65 slab.

 

PCGS MS64 - Blast white all the way and another with the potential for upgrade.

 

NGC MS64 - Amber obverse with amber rim toning on the reverse.

 

NGC MS64 - Amber rim toning on obverse and reverse. The only thing that keeps this from 65 is a small hit on the tip of her nose.

 

NGC MS63 - Light amber obverse with amber rim toning on the reverse. This one should definitely be in a 64 slab.

 

PCGS MS63 - It resides in an old Rattler, but the grade is accurate.

 

Affordable? Yes! My total investment for all of them was $713.00

 

Chris

[HiHoAudio]

$100 is ridiculous. You can get a raw PL 1881-S for about $35 and not even have to worry about the numeric grade.

 

Considering that the Chinese are producing hundreds or even thousands of fake Morgans every week I would be nervous buying an uncertified uncirculated example these days.

 

Or perhaps I am being overly paranoid...

[cpm9ball]

$100 is ridiculous. You can get a raw PL 1881-S for about $35 and not even have to worry about the numeric grade.

 

Considering that the Chinese are producing hundreds or even thousands of fake Morgans every week I would be nervous buying an uncertified uncirculated example these days.

 

Or perhaps I am being overly paranoid...

 

When you've looked at tens of thousands........................knowledge is power!

 

You may be interested to know that the company in China which produces the counterfeits is actually using the same machinery that the U.S. Mint used to produce the real McCoy 100+ years ago. When the Chinese government decided to build a new mint facility (in Shanghai, I think) after the turn of the 20th century, the U.S. government provided China with all of their out-dated equipment. China was so grateful that the facade of the building was built identical to that of the old mint building in Philadelphia. The Chinese mint continued using this equipment for decades, and when they finally modernized their equipment, they sold it for scrap to the company that, now, produces the counterfeits.

 

Chris

[James_OldeTowne]

$100 is ridiculous. You can get a raw PL 1881-S for about $35 and not even have to worry about the numeric grade.

 

Considering that the Chinese are producing hundreds or even thousands of fake Morgans every week I would be nervous buying an uncertified uncirculated example these days.

 

Or perhaps I am being overly paranoid...

If there was one single Morgan dollar that I felt would never be counterfeited accurately, it's the 1881-S. Well, I guess really the 1879-S, 1880-S, 1881-S and 1882-S. All four have a unique superb look that is completely unlike any others in the series. It would simply not be worth their trouble for the Chinese scammers to bother with the extensive research and investment necessary to duplicate the look of those issues.

[CHABSENTIA]

One hundred dollars is ridiculous.The 1881S is a common date in the higher grades and does have a great strike. I have seen no certified 1881 S in MS65 as claimed by another poster. I did purchase an 1881S in MS65PL last year for not much more than the $139.00 that this seller wanted for a 62 PL. The fact that another poster has an MS66 for $194.00 shows the absurdity of the original $129.00. Also the fact that the seller was willing to come down from $139.00 to $100.00 so fast.

 

 

I would refer to the numismedia quotes as suggested by another buyer. If you are interested in buying more Morgans in the future then I would go to Whitman.com and purchase the book by Q David Bowers. I believe that it is tiitled a guide to Morgan Dollars.

 

The prices for the various grades are the whitman retail prices,however, it tells you the numbers in circulation as well as the numbers that were certified in each grade and the types of strikes and the history of the coins and how difficult or plentiful in each grade to obtain. etc.

 

 

I think it is about $20.00 including shipping and handling.

 

Some of these sellers have absurd high prices for some of these Morgans in the "Buy it Now".I also have noticed that there are bidders on there who bid up a coin higher then they can purchase it as a "Buy it now". My guess is that not only do some of these selllers hope that somebody who doesnt know the true retail price will pay more for it and/or list a higher price in order that people will bid up a coin close to the higher "Buy it now price" or higher.

 

I also agree with the poster on buying it " raw". Not only are their counterfeits but an even bigger problem is coins that have been "cleaned". The seller has a 10 day return period and you sent it to NGC at $16.00 per coin in the Economy class assuming you have five and it comes back body bagged or now "details" and you are out of luck because of the 4 weeks it took to grade it and only a 10 day refund privilege and there is no guaranty that it will get a PL designation.

 

So unless you are good enough to be able to tell if a coin has been cleaned and is a PL etc then I would stay away form the raw coins,

[$ilverHawk]

James, please forgive me but I believe you may suffer the same delusion that I do--that is over estimating the knowledge of the general public. Most of the collectors out there don't have the knowledge you have. Counterfeiters prey on this shortcoming.

 

Coin collecting has grown substantially in the past decade and scammers are always ready to prey on the uninformed.

 

As I monitor sales on various auction sites I am astonished to see prices paid on overvalued and counterfeited coins. Counterfeit coins find their way into the pipeline because most buyers don't know the difference. Once they discover that they have been had they put the coin back on the market looking for another sucker. An honest buyer would take the hit and stop the chain. That usually doesn't happen.

 

The only anwser is education. That only comes with experience and sometimes with being burned.

[CHABSENTIA]

I dont think that James has those delusions. Counterfeiting is not the only problem. Some of these pictures on E Bay look great,however, they could be cleaned etc.

 

Bby the time you send them to NGC to get graded and get them back thenyiu are too late to return them to a seller for a refund etc.

[HiHoAudio]

$100 is ridiculous. You can get a raw PL 1881-S for about $35 and not even have to worry about the numeric grade.

 

Considering that the Chinese are producing hundreds or even thousands of fake Morgans every week I would be nervous buying an uncertified uncirculated example these days.

 

Or perhaps I am being overly paranoid...

 

When you've looked at tens of thousands........................knowledge is power!

 

You may be interested to know that the company in China which produces the counterfeits is actually using the same machinery that the U.S. Mint used to produce the real McCoy 100+ years ago. When the Chinese government decided to build a new mint facility (in Shanghai, I think) after the turn of the 20th century, the U.S. government provided China with all of their out-dated equipment. China was so grateful that the facade of the building was built identical to that of the old mint building in Philadelphia. The Chinese mint continued using this equipment for decades, and when they finally modernized their equipment, they sold it for scrap to the company that, now, produces the counterfeits.

 

Chris

 

I didn't know that. Unbelievable.