Mostly focused on pennies although this was included in my recent CL purchase. What do you guys think grade wise? Its only my second Morgan, my first was bought a few years ago for a dollar over spot since it was supposedly cleaned. And how do I take well lit photos of coins? I feel the LEDs on the microscope reflect too much light and the ambient light in the room is too yellow...advice?
Thanks! I'm not too comfortable grading my own coins, as of late I notice sometimes I'm generous and sometimes I'm too strict. Thanks for the opinions!
OK Method To Take Pics: (1) Table with lamp light (2) Angle coin/slab at 45-degrees off of base (3) Use smartphone or digital camera for closeup Here's the slab and case for my 1927 Saint....the angle relative to the overhead light deflects most of the glare and you don't need the flash on your camera to show details or luster.
Congrats on your second Morgan. I started collection in late 2012 and got my first morgan in 2013. Since then I have always loved Morgans and if I see a nice one at my shop for a good price I will buy it.
I can see this Morgan trail getting expensive quickly. I don't go looking for them but I still think its a beautifully made coin.
So this was my first Morgan I purchased a few years back. As I mentioned in my initial post, the guy claimed it was cleaned, which I could believe. What areas in this coin do you see that are cleaned? I think I see some micro abrasions in the field, but the tone of this is not like the 1885 I have, is that also a sign of cleaning?
You can easily see the hairlines on the reverse of the coin in your picture. The coin has definitely been wiped.
AU50. The hairlines on the reverse are simply those that are orthogonal to the lighting showing up stronger than the other random lines.