Chapter ten. A piece of American History in your hand!

While US coins represent just a part of a typical silver collection, they are no doubt THE more interesting and enjoyable part!

Anna Williams posed for the Morgan Dollar.

Called a "Morgan" dollar. Named for the designer.

The pictured coin was struck at the US Mint in San Francisco in 1881. It is 136 years old (in 2017). The obverse (front) design is considered one of the most beautiful ever designed, and the Morgan dollar is the most sought after US coin by collectors. This pictured coin has been certified by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) Holding one of these in your hand is like holding a piece of history for our American republic!

My personal collecting involves part numismatist and part silver/gold "bug". Many, if not most, collectors will collect "type" sets. Most experts advise you to do this. A type set would entail having "all" of a particular series of coins. For example, you may wish to collect all the years of the Morgan dollars. Maybe even all the years and mint marks plus even the variations involved with errors etc. While I find that attractive - it simply is not what I am doing. 

I collect US (mostly) coins which are sometimes graded and are selling for an amount not much more than a raw version of the same kind of coin. This plus some raw (junk) coins which will perform the same. I believe these will increase in value along with the spot prices of precious metals and always hold their value in that vicinity. I believe this removes the risk associated with coins which are rare or mint errors etc. Yes, perhaps a penny selling for $3,000 dollars today will increase in value when the dollar crashes - but the number of customers (buyers) will be quite small and I can't imagine that buying food or clothing with a rare penny will ever happen. This is just my opinion and in no way advise.

Coin collecting gets in your blood!

PS: It can be profitable, if you can ever bring yourself to sell one of these magnificent coins.