We love to hear stories from clients who “just got lucky,” and stumbled upon rare coins in Grand Rapids. A recent example is the story of a Michigan State University student who purchased about twenty-five silver dollars from a neighbor’s garage sale a few years ago. He paid somewhere between $250-$350 for the group. He held onto the coins for a few years and finally decided it was time to find out what they were really worth.
Finding Rare Coins in Grand Rapids
The MSU junior contacted us to ask if we could evaluate the coins. He also said he had one Morgan Dollar that, according to his research, was potentially quite valuable, and he wanted us to help send it to PCGS (Profession Coin Grading Service) for grading and authentication. While nearly everyone hopes that one of their treasures turns out to be a rare and valuable item, most often their coins turn out to be fairly common. In this case, though, the young man was right! He had a genuine 1893-S Morgan Dollar – the rarest circulation strike of the entire Morgan series and a highly collectible coin.
Off that coin went to PCGS for grading, and the results proved the coin to be authentic and graded VG10 and a retail value of well over $2,000. Even a few of the other coins turned out to be rare dates including two 1928 Peace Dollars. When all was tallied, his $250 investment at a Grand Rapids garage sale turned out to be worth well over $4,000. It may not be enough to pay this year’s tuition but it will cover a pretty good social life for his last two years of college.
What treasure do you have? Contact Grand Rapids coins for a free evaluation today!
