Hello people! I hope you all are having excellent days/nights wherever you are. So I have this Morgan. I know that 1921 is not the most desirable of dates, but the coin (to me at least maybe I'm naive) is at least some what worth more than scrap. What I'm having difficulty is understanding it's value. Like is it AU, MS? PL, DPL? Etc. I know the Zerbe or Chapman Proofs are like obscure rarity's. Anythoughts anyone? Thank you!
Hello, What I am not seeing (could just be the pictures) is any mint luster. The details are pretty nice though, and the toning doesn't throw up any red flags. But the lack of luster concerns me that it may have been cleaned or is a circulated (AU) coin. Better images would help a ton. It isn't prooflike either way.
Thank you for the quick reply. It came out of a coins of the US framed set, like really old. Many of the coins in it were highly polished, despite being crazy circulated. I sold all those for scrap, but kept a few of the "nicer" ones. I have a Canon EOS digital rebel, but wow...any suggestions on better images? The coin is very shiny, very reflective of light. Thank you!
The Zerbe proofs are identified as proofs, but they are noted as having hair-lined fields. A result of the mint not completely polishing the dies prior to striking. They are easily identifiable. The Chapman proofs, on the other hand, display fully mirrored fields. They have remarkable detail and are exceedingly rare. Although nearly thirty of the Chapman proofs are beleved to have been struck, only about a dozen are known to exist. I'm sorry to say that your coin is neither. Your coin looks like a nice AU coin, but better images would be needed for a more accurate grade.
This here pushes me towards it being cleaned. 99% of the coins put into those framed sets are either highly polished (as you know) or cleaned. Generally, the only ones they didn't molest were the modern clad coins.
Absolutely, and thanks all for your advice. To clarify, I never for one iota thought it was a Zerbe or Chapman Proof. I was wondering if it was close to being proof like. But, I believe it may have been cleaned after being mildly circulated and then toned over 20 years in a frame. But thanks for all the knoweldge!
You are welcome. It's really such a shame about them cleaning and polishing all of those coins for the framed sets. I just recently dismantled 10 of them to sell off for scrap as well. Some of the toning on the polished coins would have been spectacular if they were on original surfaces. -greg
It is a business strike common date Morgan dollar. Definitely NOT a proof, and from the pictures, looks like it is recovering from previously being cleaned. Not a valuable coin. Worth melt, or perhaps melt plus ten.
