Need quick help with this PCGS 1901 morgan

[crhstreetwalker]

Hello all. I'm thinking about buying this coin from a private party. The stakes are high and I don't have much experience detecting fake holders, and wanted some opinions. Does this coin look legit? As always, any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

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[cudamark]

It looks good to me (both coin and holder) but with that sort of money involved, I think I'd contact PCGS and get their opinion too.

 

[CC-Hunter]

You can run the numbers through the PCGS site. You can also send them the pics and see what they have to say.

 

[Diver_Down]

The coin and holder look fine. Do the numbers check out on the PCGS site? My biggest red flag is why someone would be willing to sell a 17K coin privately. Consigning it through a major auction house will realize the true value for the seller.

 

[Mackaydon]

I'll join this herd of similar opinion; get the coin authenticated by PCGS.
You have too much at stake to buy a fraud--even if off only a couple of grading points; that's thousands of dollars !!
Don...

 

[hokielegend]

Could someone explain to me why a 1901 Morgan in MS63 cost that much?
I see on Redbook as having almost 7millions minted, so what give?

thx & sorry for slightly hi-jacking ur thread.

 

[crhstreetwalker]

Thanks for the opinions all. The numbers match up to what's on PCGS, though I will take my time to examine it in person. Hey Diver, basing off recent eBay sales I would estimate this coin to be around $12,500. PCGS suggests a retail value of $14,500. Where do you think it would bring in $17? hokielegend the coin is only expensive in higher grades. I believe it is because there were no treasury releases of this date and mint when silver dollars were liquidated.

 

[Diver_Down]

Thanks for the opinions all. The numbers match up to what's on PCGS, though I will take my time to examine it in person. Hey Diver, basing off recent eBay sales I would estimate this coin to be around $12,500. PCGS suggests a retail value of $14,500. Where do you think it would bring in $17? hokielegend the coin is only expensive in higher grades. I believe it is because there were no treasury releases of this date and mint when silver dollars were liquidated.

I quoted a RedBook value of 17K. Of course, the market is fluid when dealing with these high value coins. When dealing with a coin that is valued above 10K, I wouldn't consider eBay as a market guide. Those that are in the market for such coins don't deal with eBay, but rather target premier auction channels such as Heritage, Stack's Bowers, etc.

The reason for the high market value for high grade coins of this specific date is due to the Pittman Act. The 1901 date is an example where some made it into circulation, but most were sequestered in government vaults. When it came around for mass melting of silver dollars due to the Pittman Act, the 1901 was a case of last one in the vault and first one out. They were heavily melted and consequently are a condition rarity.

 

[CC-Hunter]

I had someone offer me a really nice St. Gaudens $20 gold coin (from a famous hoard) and a high value Morgan, both graded and with numbers that checked out on the NGC/PCGS site (forget which one); I even e-mailed photos to the certification co/grader to see if they looked real to them and they checked out again. The seller contacted me in response to a Craiglist ad I placed and the sales price was insanely low. The seller eventually disappeared before I could do the deal, but I always had the nagging sense that the coins were very good counterfeits (neven got a chance to see them in person, just photos). Sometimes you just have believe that if it's too good to be true it is. As much as I would love to get a great deal on a graded/certified/high value coin, I would probably never buy something with a high sales price from anywhere other than a trusted source.

 

[bigscores]

If you don't know how to identify it as real vs. counterfeit, then don't spend the money. It could be an MS62 masquerading in a MS63 slab, which would hurt the value quite a bit as well... so if you aren't confident in your own ability to identify, certify, and grade coins, you really shouldn't be dropping $1k+ on a coin, let alone $10k+.

 

[enamel7]

Not to mention the Chicons are also counterfeiting the holders now.

 

[crhstreetwalker]

Well I met up with this character, and it was a fake. We met inside a Wells Fargo lobby, he had a keypad safe, and opened it up and the coin was neatly wrapped in bubble wrap to try and make it look legit. The first thing that was a dead giveaway was that the coin looked like steel manufactured on a chinese morgan dollar die. The font was wrong, the text spacing was too far apart, and the barcode was different than the pictures of the genuine one he sent me. I told him if he trys to sell that to anyone else he would get bit in the rear by karma/and or the police. He tried to say "Oh, eBay must have sent me a fake $12,500 coin. I didn't even notice. I'm going to get in contact with them." I drove an hour and a half to "meet him half way" too. I've noticed a huge spike in craigslist crazies as I like to call them in the past month.

 

[hokielegend]

Thanks for the update. Good thing you have an eagle eye for the fakes.
And thanks everyone for the explanation on the Pittman Act.

 

[cudamark]

Oh, so the coin in the photo you posted is not the one he tried to sell you?? I think I'd talk with the fraud division of the local police.