Opinions Appreciated

I'd appreciate opinions as to the approximate grade and value of this 1878 MSD. It's a 7TF Rev of 78. It has a broken star, but I don't see a VAM for that for this particular coin, though I don't have a lot of experience and may have missed it. It's the fourth star from the bottom on the right side. The pics are auction pics and the white balance is way off, and the lighting isn't great. I purchased it, but haven't received it yet. I'm trying to learn more about evaluatinng and grading. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated. To me, as a very inexperienced collector coin guy, it appears to be a very nice strike. The detail in Liberty's hair above the ear is very good, as are the high spots on her hat. The eagle on the reverse seems to have good detail in the high spots on the eagle's head and chest.

 

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Well? It says " One Dollar" on the back of the coin, no?
Seriously man, just joking. I would say it def. would be a details coin but Not sure what grade?

 

Why?

 

All the contact marks and scrapes Obverse/ reverse.
What would you grade it?

 

I'm hoping to learn from folks here that know a lot more about this than I do. I believe it's a bit tough because of the white balance being so far off. I do know quite a bit about photography, and that problem is obvious to me. Just as an experiment I took some pics of a slabbed MS64 coin and tweaked the white balance a bit to get this same type of color. Makes it impossible to really analyze luster. In my very much a newbie opinion, with the lack of wear to the high points on the obverse and reverse I'm not sure this coin was circulated. I don't have enough experience to determine how much of that may be due to an especially good strike. I've looked at some highly graded MS coins that didn't have as much detail in the hair above the ear as this coin. I feel like I will know more once I see the coin in person and can tell what, if any, luster it still has. To my newbie eyes I don't see a lot of wear. I've seen MS60-62 coins with similar markings in the field and on Liberty's face. Anyone that is willing to offer some thoughts to help educate a new guy would be really appreciated.

 

I disagree with the “details” denouncement, I don’t think the excessive contact marks sink it, but they are prevalent enough on both sides to make me say the grade is close to AU53-55, imo.

@luvNlife …I’ll post a helpful link shortly after I find it again…Spark

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/exhibit-grading-the-morgan-dollar.115123/

This will help you to grade Morgan Silver $…Spark

 

I really appreciate the help. I'm a bit confused about the contact marks. How can you determine if the marks are bag marks, or from being circulated/handled? I've seen MS60-62 coins with similar markings, some with fairly severe marks on Liberty's face, and similar marks in the fields. I thought (possibly incorrectly) that a determination of circulation and grade had more to do with the actual wear to the high spots? I have a big pic hanging by my desk that shows the high spots on both sides, and I've spent a fair amount of time studying the PCGS photograde pictures.

 

I found and posted the link in post #6…Spark

 

As an example of what looks like a similar degree of marking is a PCGS MS62 coin that is a much better picture.

 

Yes, it has the bag marks and face chatter, but your coin exhibits wear whereas this one does not…imo…Spark

 

If you don't mind, please educate me. Where are you seeing the wear Spark? The fellow at the LCS told me the hair detail above the ear is about the highest spot and prone to wear. I know the lighting makes it look like Liberty isn't standing as proud as the last example, but that is a lighting issue, and I suspect if her entire head were actually worn down the high spots above her ear, on the hat, and around her eyes, would also show a lot of wear, wouldn't they? I know some auction sellers are a bit deceptive with their altered pics, and others just don't take good pics. It's one of the things I like about Heritage, Great Collections and Stacks Bowers. They provide consistent, good images. It feels like some of the less pics, like the ones I posted, are a bit of a crap shoot. I was drawn because of the details in what I think are the high spots. I paid less than AU53 pricing for it, so it's not about that. I just want to learn. Thank you for posting the link. I can tell you I will probably spend a couple hours there tonight, like I have at PCGS photograde. It would be easier to just buy all slabbed coins, but I value the chance to learn something too.

 

I'm not seeing any wear from those photos, but it may indeed be worn. I'll need better photos before I give my final opinion.

 

Huh

 

You’re a good guesser. Your thinking is clear

 

Your coin has ware. Tip of Liberty’s hat etc..

 

Thanks Cheech, you may be right. I do believe it is possible that some of that is a result of the lighting though. I have a large high resolution picture of a Morgan with all of the high spots denoted. On the upper portion of Liberty's hat the portion that is highest is the roundish area, from about where it overlaps the line of the rest of the hat, counterclockwise to about the 6:30 position. The upper part of that area looks, to me, like it may be slightly worn, but it's hard to tell with the horrible lighting. With proper lighting that area shows a good shadow, like it the MS62 example I posted. I have very accurate measuring equipment. Just for fun I plan to measure some coins at the high points and record the info. The hair above the ear is another high spot, and I'd like to know the relationship in height between that spot, and others. I think the coin I purchased looks like it has a minimal amount of wear in the area above the ear. It seems somewhat hard to judge because of the differences in strikes. I've seen some MS65 coins that had less detail in the hair above the ear, and I can only assume it is because it wasn't as good of a strike. I've seen several from the New Orleans Mint that are highly graded but lack some of the details of lesser graded coins. The more I get in to this, the more fascinating I find it. Once I actually have this coin I'll get some good pics with proper lighting.

 

Just now returned to the forum…

I see wear in the wheat kernals, the top and bottom of the Phrygian Cap, the cotton bolls and leaf edges. Also the eyelid and the rim is smoothed down in several places.

That’s just the obverse, many other places on the reverse.

If you take the wear factor alone, probably AU58+. With the rest of the contact noise I am close at AU53-55…in hand you might get a bump from luster, but based on your OP pics, and solid assessment of both sides, it is not better than AU55.

Not to disparage the coin,
that’s still a mighty fine Morgan you got there…imo…Spark

 

How do you spell HuH backwards?

 

Honestly, I'd want better pics before I'd guess the grade.
Edit: Though my gut impression is that there's more than bag marks going on

 

Thank you SO much for that informative post Spark. That is the kind of information I was hoping for. Not disparaging at all. It's a coin, an inanimate object, not one of my kids. If it's a horrible coin I want to know why so I can learn. I can see now where you see wear, and I do believe it is wear, and not just because the lighting isn't great. It was an Ebay purchase and advertised as not circulated. Seller (a coin shop) has 100% positive feedback and accepts returns. I paid $62 for it, so once I have it, even if it's obviously been circulated, I'll probably keep it. I would hope someone with over 2,600 Ebay transactions that is a coin shop would be a bit better at analyzing a coin. The one thing I am still a bit confused about is the detail in the hair over Liberty's ear. There is a lot of detail there, and it's my understanding that is one of the highest points, and most susceptible to wear. Do you see any wear there? I've got a lot to learn, but as one of my favorite sayings goes, "Success is the quality of your journey". I look forward to learning more. I think coins like this are a real cool part of our country's history.