There are two keys to being a satisfied buyer of Morgan silver dollars on eBay: first, you have to know what a coin is worth as presented by the seller and second, you need to determine if the coin being sold is accurately described. My experience is that most of us have a pretty good idea of the first, using the available price guides (e.g Redbook, Coin price magazines, PCGS or other websites, etc.) to determine the "market value" of a coin. Where we (collectively) have difficulty, is in determining the actual condition of a coin. There are a number of factors that contribute to this difficulty, not all of which are the fault of the seller, but that the seller can mitigate, as you'll see below. If you have input, comments, or questions, don't hesitate to contact me...hope this helps!

1. Issue: Uncirculated means UNCIRCULATED!

    Discussion: So many Morgans (and other coins) are represented by the seller as uncirculated, when in fact they are AU (about uncirculated)...or worse. This has got to be a top problem buyers face. This may be intentional or unintentional on the seller's part, most of these folks are not dealers and may have limited experience grading coins, but the impact is the same: buyers will grossly overbid for an "uncirculated" coin and feel cheated when they take the coin to their dealer or send it to NGC or PCGS (Third Party Grading Services, more on these below) and the buyer is told the coin is AU (or worse). "DANG!"

   Recommendation: If you are interested in a Morgan, it is usually (not always, but usually) fairly simple to tell if the coin is still in mint state...on the Obverse (front), take a look at Miss Liberty's silver locks, just above the ear...this is the primary trouble spot, if the hairlines here (or on the forehead or anywhere else) are gone, this coin is probably not uncirculated. I say probably because some coins weren't "fully struck"...some years are worse than others, and the New Orleans mint was notorious for weak strikes where not all the hairlines show...but in general, absent other information, if these hairlines are worn smooth in the photo, this is NOT a mint state/uncirculated coin. On the reverse, look at the eagles head and breast feathers. Again, the "rub" of circulation will reduce the details (although again, these high points might not be fully detailed in a weak strike mint state coin). [Note that if you had the "coin in hand" you could look for "gaps" in the mint luster, areas where the coin has been rubbed in circulation...unfortunately, in eBay photos, this is rarely possible, so we have to look hard at the key details for clues to the coin's grade]

  Bottomline: Look at the photos before you bid uncirculated prices for a circulated coin. There is nothing wrong with a circulated Morgan, a lot of potential history in your hand, but you don't want to overpay for that privilege!

2. Issue: Third Party Graders (TPGs).

    Discussion: There are a few totally honest and trustworthy TPG. You've probably heard their names and you can see their "slabbed" coins up for auction everyday. I did a lot of research on this about six months ago, and I think I was spot on: if someone is selling a coin slabbed by a TPG, search on the internet for "greysheet" to see if that TPG is on the list. If they are not, it doesn't mean the coin is trouble, but you better REALLY do some research on it. There are, unfortunately, a whole slew of third rate, in-house, grading services that grade then sell their own coins (should we call them First Party Graders?). In addition to the obvious conflict of interest, these are usually hugely over-graded, as you would expect, with the "sight unseen" auction audience (e.g. YOU!) in mind. Most "MS-67" Morgans offered by these sellers are AU (or WORSE). Add in the second tier graders, who will consistently overgrade (although maybe not with the criminal intent of the FPGs above), and you have to be VERY CAREFUL bidding on "slabbed" coins that are not from a major, accepted service. PCGS is probably the current "gold standard" (pardon the pun) for grading. I use NGC because it is the grading service of the American Numismatic Association and they are probably more user friendly to the collector. Other top notch services include ICG, ANACS, and probably SEGS. There are others, but these are the ones I know and can talk confidently about.

    Recommendation: Do your "due diligence" when thinking about bidding on a slabbed coin. To make it simple, just don't bid on a coin if it isn't graded by a reputable firm. If the coin was so great, it should have been graded by one of these companies to begin with. If we all stopped buying coins in third rate slabs, eventually those problem services would go away, to the benefit of all!

3. Issue: Problem Coins.

    Discussion: There are a number of "problem coins" out there, and whether intentional or not, these coins often make their way into our eBay auctions without disclaimer. I applaud the honest seller who identifies their coin as having been cleaned, or rim dings, or scratches etc. that might not be clear in the photo. The real problem is that sometimes these coins are well camoflauge, not identified in the listing, and so you spend serious bucks on a damaged/problem coin. At a minimum, that is a hassle (returning the coin, fighting for a refund, mutual bad ratings, etc.), at worst, you are stuck with problem coin (or someone else does after it gets relisted by the original seller).

    Recommendation: Since these problem coins aren't going away anytime soon, your best defense is probably KNOWLEDGE. I recently got a batch of harshly cleaned coins, and didn't even know it until four of them came back from NGC in "body bags" (they won't grade/encapsulate "no grade" coins). I quickly made a trip to my local dealer for a class in detecting cleaned coins. If you don't know much about problem coins, but want to avoid them, you need to visit the NGC homepage and take a look at their information on "No Grade Coins". Then visit your local dealer and get a class on each of the topic areas until you know what to look for. At a minimum, you'll be able to avoid some of the worst mistakes by seeing the coins offered on eBay in a new, more critical light.

Well, I've gotta run (that day job keeps interfering with my coin collecting!). I hope this helped... not all coins/auctions are rip offs, but hopefully now you'll be better prepared to keep an eye out for the ones that are!