I'm kind of torn, I believe mikenoodle's grade but I can't get that smudge from the reverse off my mind. And what appears to be a couple marks on Ike's bust is distracting. Other than that, it's a clean coin with no soft strikes.
I explained what happened though, it was a mistake (my mind was thinking proof for some reason so my fingers typed it which I already explained once, why am I explaining it again, oh yeah, because you pointed it out again because you didn't read all the replies in the thread), no reason to get all personal and huffy puffy about it by questioning my intelligence, which is just rude and getting too personal again. I don't see why regular members can point out the rules outlined for others when broken. It's not against the rules or it'd be posted in the rules. Now you're just bent out of shape because I simply pointed out to you that you didn't read the whole thread, just repeating what's already been pointed out. Think of it as, helping out because I've been a moderator for a very busy forum before, it can almost be a full time job at times and when members enforce the rules or point them out, it saves the moderator the hassle on future occurrences as moderators don't catch all rules being broken. Let's move on with the topic.
Also, proof or not, the coin is still around the 15-20 dollar ballpark and the grade is about the same. No need for some to get all pedantic about a mistake made, duly noted and humbly corrected without any offense.
Considering that the coin below was graded MS65 and I've seen far worse coins than the OP's in MS68, I think MS66 is a fair grade. Possibly MS66+ Find a Morgan or Peace Dollar that looks like the OP's coin and the opinions would be much, much different. BTW, the 71-S was returned to PCGS since I thought that ot was MS63 at best. They still did not agree:
There you go! Now the 66 grade makes sense when you have something else to compare it to. Thanks Lyds
And thats why im in such an uproar about it many far worse examples and everyone is just telling me its junk because of the blemish on his jaw.
I for the record never told you it was junk, even at MS66 grade, it's still worth $15-$20 as a collector and if I were to buy it myself. I'm just glad you didn't wipe it with that microfiber cloth, then you would have turned it into junk.
He's right about his price assessments since MS68 is the money grade with Silver Business Strike IKE's. Today, they could be considered fairly common and available at most any coins shop. However, given the increases in silver prices lately coupled with the overall feelings that the silver IKE's are common, the deck is getting stacked toward these being difficult to locate in the next 10 years. I could envision a big melt but then thats pure speculation. You've got a very nice looking coin which would go nicely in any album. Its not junk by any means and it does have potential. But that potential is a long way off. BTW, the term common, when referring to a coin, applies to its ready availability and should not be interpreted as the coin ebing called a piece of junk. I'm of the opinion that 55/55 Lincolns are readily available and as such can be found in a lot of different coins stores which puts them in the common category. Popular, and as such, very expensive, but readily available and more or less "expected" in any dealers inventory. Lot's of so called "rare" coins fall into that category. Finding the coin the YOU as a collector appreciates, is a different story. Enjoy your coin for what it is: Yours.
I changed the holder and i think the hit on the jaw may have been on the backside of the old holder. I also took a pic under my 10x loop i dont think it was on the coin, maybe the holder.
These second photo's sure make it look a lot better. Maybe a 68 is in your future although the spots have got to go away. A quick dip in E-Z-Est might be in order.
I'm thinking an acetone bath should be first and maybe a dip after that. I'm at MS 67 even if the spot comes off. Nice coin.
I think with many estimates here putting the grading at MS-66 to MS-68 I wouldn't touch the coin at all. It's very nice right now. The suggestions regarding acetone are all good and from people that probably really know what they're doing but I wouldn't put a coin that nice on the chopping block with your first attampt at this. It the mark on the reverse is driving you crazy just consider it a birthmark on a beautiful woman. Sure she has a birthmark but what about the rest of her.
The 74-s comes pretty clean. How high that coin would grade, I suspect, is contingent on how bad the hit on Ike's jaw is. It's a focal point for hits and grade on this coin. Going by the photos, I'd think it would be in the 65-66 range, as the hit looks fairly large and bright. I don't see it in a 67 or higher slab under any circumstances.