I just picked this up today. I'm not the best at distinguishing PL Morgans but this one stuck out to me. The fields are pretty reflective and I thought it might grade out at 64. The cheek looks a lot worse in the photos than in hand. What do you guys think?
I noticed that it has a dash under the second "8". When the transition was made from 1879 to 188x, they saved some of the (usable) dies by polishing out the last two digits using a logotype to replace them with the corrected digits 80-85. For anyone who doesn't know, the dash was used to place the last two digits of the date in the correct position. The diesinker put a dash over the 10th denticle from the "neck vee" to mark that position for the third digit. Afterward, they sometimes forgot to polish out the dash. Another interesting thing that is noticeable on some of the 1883CC's is that if you hold the coin on a horizontal plane and look closely at the date, you can see that, in some cases, the "18" is slightly taller than the "83". That is because the "18", already in place on the die, was struck a second time, making it deeper on the die than the "83". Nice coin, @jtlee321 ! Have you determined which VAM it is? I believe the VAM-5 series is the only one that has the "Dash" on them. Chris
Doesn't look PL to me. Caps out at MS-64. Easy PL test. Put your finger about a millimeter away from the coin's surface (or on the plastic if the coin is in the holder. Slowly lift your finger away. Stop when you can no longer see your fingerprint. If your finger is more than 2" away on both sides, then your coin is PL. If it is more than 8", then it is DMPL. Edit: maybe it is when your finger becomes fuzzy. I don't have a PL Morgan to practice on.
With 1883-CC, only VAM-2 doesn't have the dash. All the same, you're correct on this one. It's an "OG" VAM-5, first die state and probably one of the earlier coins off the press. Knowing your photographic style, Justin, I'd bet it has a strong shot at PL. Not positive it sees MS64, though. I'm not sure where the value quotes are originating; a PCGS 64PL hammered for $317.25 at Heritage two weeks ago: https://coins.ha.com/itm/morgan-dol...-27359.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 ....and that seems about ~$25 below market compared to previous Heritage sales. There's an NGC 64PL on Collectors Corner for $350 right now.
Yeah, they were incorporated. Sure seems Carson City got good die life on this one - 1.2 million minted on what looks (right now, so far) like 4 obverses and 5 reverses.
I've still got an the '83-CC and a few '84-CC GSA's around here somewhere. I'm planning on taking them to the FUN Show to sell so I can have some extra funds for the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood. Chris
Yeah 64 might be hopeful. But you know ownership adds a point or two. It looks really nice in hand and most of what you see on the cheek is breaks in the frost. There are some very small nicks scattered around, but overall she's very clean.
I think I'll go with 64 on this one. There are quite a few marks, but none of them really seems that severe and the PL fields tend to magnify that. As for the PL - obverse appears quite strong, but the reverse looks weaker. Both sides need to be fully PL to get the designation. Judging depth of mirrors is impossible in a picture, but I'd call the reverse borderline from what I see. I hope for you that it is a 64PL!
Thanks for the vote of confidence. It's funny that you say that, because in hand the reverse looks like the stronger contender for PL than the obverse. Funny sometimes how images can make things look one way verses another, lol.
