New to coin collecting 0

[Kory B]

I'm new to coin collecting.  I've only bought a few morgan silver dollars and a barber half dollar.  I'm thinking about having them graded but I'm confused with the process and pricing.  There is many options of price.  Do I need to have a membership that I pay for in order to have coins graded?  And sending them to get graded, do I just use USPS?  Should I have insurance on the coins when I send them?  Has anyone had issues sending them USPS.  

Thanks

[JKK]

Right now I would not worry about having them professionally graded. You could always do that later. Now is a great time to get hold of a grading book and a loupe and use them to examine your coins and grade them. I would take each coin, take good well-cropped photos of both sides, post them here, and tell us what grade you assigned--then ask for opinions. Don't be surprised if you overgrade; we all did that when we started out. People will explain to you their reasoning for their grades, and you'll get a better understanding.

I do understand the impetus for starting with professional grading right away; the desire not to cut corners, to do it right. Problem: grading costs $30-60, so unless the coin is worth a lot more than that, you might spend more on grading than on the coin itself. That's no way to have fun collecting.

Welcome to this hobby that for some of us has lasted half a century (in some cases here, 3/4 century).

[Kory B]

What coin grading book would you suggest?  

[JKK]

7 minutes ago, Kory B said:

What coin grading book would you suggest?  

Several are very good. I have the Official ANA Grading Standards for US coins, which is really good on Morgans because it gives specifics for all the uncirculated grades plus an illustration of prime and secondary focal areas (the flaw matters more in some places than in others). Another good book is Grading Coins by Photographs. Whichever you get, I would also pick up the Red Book, current version, a.k.a A Guide Book of United States Coins. While its valuations will never be precisely right, they will suggest proportionate values (as in, this one is worth ten times this one, thus we might fairly say it's kind of rare). It will also show many varieties within a given issue.

This is a marathon, not a sprint, so there is no time like the present to begin building your knowledge. Odds are fair that your coins might be cleaned; if so, you will ultimately learn to spot that with fair ease. It's a lot to absorb, but there is no hurry and there's a lot of knowledge you can tap into.

[Greenstang]

Welcome to the Forum

JKK gives good advise but I would like to know why at this time you want to grade them. There are many common Morgan’s that aren’t worth much more than the price of bullion so until you know what you have, you could be just wasting money on grading.
Remember, there are far fewer coins worth the cost of grading than there are those not worth the cost. Let’s see what you have before worrying about grading.

[Kory B]

I wanted to have them graded so I could sell them for a fair price, but the more I thought about it, I thought you know what it's really neat to have some coins that are well over 100 years old.  Now I want to grade them to see what condition they are in.  But I've already ordered one of the books FKK suggested and when I get the book I'll post the coins on here and see how close I am with graded them.  What I have so far for coins is:

1879  s morgan silver dollar
1888 o morgan silver dollar

1892 s morgan silver dollar

1921 s morgan silver dollar
1915 s barber half dollar

 

[JKK]

When you find out how simple and inexpensive it is to get coins that are two hundred years old--or 1800--this hobby might start to look cooler and cooler. I started with US coins but mostly collect world and ancient stuff now. Late Roman bronzes in somewhat worn shape can be had for $10-12. I sometimes find mid-1800s coins in the dealer's junk foreign bin, sometimes older.

None of the issues you listed are fundamentally scarce, so the value all comes down to condition. But no matter what their condition and market value might be, they'll still be an interesting set of coins to start with. Reminds me of when I got started and my great-grandma, then very elderly, gave me four 1884 Morgans that she had because it was her birth year. I have marked them specifically as "heirloom" in the collection, meaning they are to be passed along rather than liquidated if I die before getting around to passing them on.

The grading book will give you a good idea of the high points by what it requires for a given grade. For example, the locks of hair over Liberty's ear, the wheats, the cotton leaves and bolls all tended to show the first wear on most Morgans. On the reverse, the wingtips and one edge of each wing, the talons, and the breast feathers are high spots. On Barbs, circulated examples saw a lot of wear and mostly wore down flat, so anything with good detail is a cut above. The design looks a little dowdy until you see a proof, at which time one sees all the detail the sculptor intended, and he gains a new respect for his artistry.

[Kory B]

FKK,

Are proof sets worth hanging on to?  I have a couple from the 70's and 80's.  They have quarter, dime, nickel and a penny from that year.  Do you get your really old coins from conventions or auctions?  Thanks for helping a newbie start in the coin world!

[JKK]

1 hour ago, Kory B said:

FKK,

Are proof sets worth hanging on to?  I have a couple from the 70's and 80's.  They have quarter, dime, nickel and a penny from that year.  Do you get your really old coins from conventions or auctions?  Thanks for helping a newbie start in the coin world!

Most modern proof and mint sets aren't worth big money, though there are a few that are scarcer (as I learned painfully when buying a friend's collection; she placed her full trust in me and I hadn't realized some of hers were rather uncommon, so I ended up needing to send her another check (it was that or send her the sets back, which would have been a pain)). It surprises me that those don't have the half dollars; that would make them incomplete, which is less desirable and suggests perhaps breaking the sets down into singles. What is important is to make sure they are safely kept, since proofs are very easily impaired. A good investment is a pair of plastic coin tongs, which are good for handling pieces you don't dare hold by the rims (anything really nice).

I've gotten my ancients and other real oldies from various sources. I have a longtime friend in the antique business who now and then will come across a buying opportunity for me; that's how I came into a bunch of Mauryan (early Indian) punchmark coins, Kushan (basically Indo-Greek) stuff, and Afghan/Mughal coinage through jitals (c. 800-1200) and into the modern era. I never buy any at auctions, though I've sold a bunch on Ebay (consignments for my longtime friend; his client seriously cleaned up). I often buy at shows and from local dealers I respect (that number is growing smaller these days). You know a dealer trusts you when he doesn't watch you closely as you go through a book of coins. That happens only with people they are 100% sure won't filch anything, ever.

Wherever you live, there will probably be a coin club and some periodic coin shows. Sometimes the club itself puts on the show (ours has an annual one we did not get to have this year), which is how they can have nice things. Coin shows are a great way to see the wider world of US, foreign, ancient, currency, token, error, and other collecting. It is always important to treat dealers with respect (don't go back to those that don't prove worthy of it), because reputation really matters in this hobby. I can drive down the Oregon coast and hit two or three small shops as I go, and even if they do not remember me from last time, they will take my check once we've talked a bit and I do some name-dropping. Their logic is simple: the notion that I would bounce a $35 check, and have that probably get back to people held in high regard in the region and even nationally, is ludicrous. No one is stupid enough to commit such a self-inflicted wound. So now is a good time to establish good personal ethics and relationships with other collectors and dealers. (The ones I don't like, I don't badmouth; I just avoid them, or be civil yet distant if I must. Such as when I work the front desk at our club's show.)

Speaking of coin clubs, you might look into what's available locally. They vary. Some are small rooms of grumpy old Aspies who don't seem to want new people. Others have all ages from children to octogenarians, and very good ones aren't all male. Ours has had a YN (young numismatist...a kid) as an officer, and one of our most helpful and creative board members is a woman. Right now of course most are meeting on Zoom, but the in-person days will return. If you visit your local club's meeting, you should observe how they welcome and treat you. Good clubs will ask if there's anyone new in attendance, and members will notice you and ask about what you collect. They are great places to learn and ask questions, make connections. I drove about two hours to a neighboring club's show, and it was great to see some of their guys who often pitch in with our show. Showing up and doing some shopping helps their vendors which helps their show flourish, and is a way to thank them for what they do for us. Saw a couple of our other members there as well, so that felt good.

For a hobby that is mainly about small pieces of metal and cloth, and has so many socially dysfunctional old grumps, the people element is surprisingly important.

[zadok]

...depending on grade and whether original uncleaned surfaces, ur 1892-s morgan could warrant certification, it is a semi-key date...common in lower grades but scarcer in higher grades, id say if a true xf-40 or higher and if uncleaned its worth the consideration of being certified....

[Kory B]

Ok I received the grading book and loupe and I did a grade on my coins. Not sure if the pictures will be very good. My grades are:

1892-o morgan vf-30.  

It's hard to pick which grade when one part of the coin is vf-30 and another part is vf-20.. who ever had this coin carved their initials in the cheek.  I'm sure that lowers the grade

[Kory B]

1899-o morgan: g-4... It will not let me put the back side on.  It's way less then 4mb