Shore Collectibles
By Douglas Keefe, President of Beachcomber Coins
Last weeks’ article covered the Peace dollar series, minted from 1921 until 1935 and how this short period of minting provides an opportunity to assemble a complete collection of all dates and mints at a relatively low price. For those of you who don’t understand a collector’s focus, they want a complete collection, be it a series of coins, a year set of cards or a type set of currency.
The predecessor to the Peace dollars was the Morgan dollars, named after its; designer, George Morgan (who last week I called him Charles Morgan, mixing his name up with that of Charles Barber, designer of the Barber series of dimes, quarters and half dollars of the era). The Morgan dollars were minted continuously from 1878 until 1904 and then once more in 1921 when it was replaced by the Peace dollar, which was to commemorate the peace after the end of World War I. During that period 5 mints, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City, and only during 1921, Denver, struck dollar coins, and some years 4 mint churned out coins, resulting in a lot of different date and mint combinations to collect if one were interested in assembling a complete set.
A complete set from 1878 to 1921 is comprised of 97 coins (98 if you were to count the 1895 dollar of which only 880 coins were minted and in proof condition and only for collectors, since none were released for circulation). While 97 coins is formidable number, it is not as difficult as one might imagine as the majority could be purchased for under $50 if a circulated set were to be assembled. This is because during most years large quantities of coins were struck at all mints, the exception being the Carson City Mint which always struck fewer coins than the others. Even so, some Carson City minted dollars can be purchased for under $100. The coins that would cost over $100 are as follows: 1878-CC; 1879-CC; 1880-CC; 1881-CC; 1885-CC; 1889-CC; 1890-CC; 1892-CC; 1893; 1893-CC; 1893-O; 1894; 1895-O; 1895-S; 1899 AND 1903-O. The most expensive coin would be the 1893-S which would cost over $1000. If you were to be adventurous and wished to add the 1895 dollar to your collection, be prepared to write a check for over $20,000.
As with the Peace dollar set, an easier (and cheaper) way to go is to assemble a date set, that is selecting one of the cheapest dollars for each year from 1878 to 1921 (no dollars were minted from 1905 to 1920) which would be only 28 coins. A year collection would be comprised of mostly coins in the $50 or less range with only the years 1893 and 1895 requiring an expenditure of over $100. Very doable.
An even shorter set, and a relatively inexpensive one is to assemble a mint set, that is one coin from each of the mints that struck Morgan dollars, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City and Denver. This can easily be done by purchasing uncirculated coins, the only one valued at over $100 would be a Carson City dollar dated 1882, 1883 or 1884 which can be purchased at a little over $200. The Denver mint only struck dollars in 1921, but because they struck over 20 million coins, the coins are plentiful in uncirculated condition and inexpensive.
Douglas Keefe is the President of Beachcomber Coins, Inc. He and his wife Linda operate Beachcomber Coins and Collectibles, formally located in the Shore Mall and now located at 6692 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Township in the old Wawa building. They also have satellite offices for buying only in Brigantine (Saturday), and in Absecon (Tuesday). Between them, they have over 70 years of experience buying and selling coins, collectibles in precious metals. They are members of the American Numismatic Association, the Industry Council of Tangible Assets, the Numismatic Guarantee Corporation, the Certified Coin Exchange and the Professional Coin Grading Service. Visit their website at www.beachcombercoinsinc.com for video and information.
