I really didn't expect to win this auction.

I appreciate you sharing photographs to compare to the sellers scans. I generally avoid sellers who use scanned pictures of coins. The scans don't seem to give accurate measure of the coins surfaces.

Another thing I do before I purchase any coin is view the photo as large as possible. [left click to open ebay photo viewer if possible, then right click >> View Image. Then I press 'CTRL' + '+' to zoom in as much as possible.] This allows me to get a better feel for how well the coin is represented. Poor resolution photos will hide a lot of flaws. Often times ...post-processing... will be more evident when the picture is blown up.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I assume this is a perfect example of what a seller does not want you to see. If they had a truly beautiful coin they would most likely try to present it with good photos. I'm going to avoid any poorly represented coins from now on.

 

That's a good strategy. In a very small percentage of cases, a seller uses crappy pics because they just don't know any better, but in the vast majority of cases there is a good reason they're using bad pics and they know exactly what they're doing, hoping someone will take the bait.

 

Always make sure the buyer accepts returns if not I would steer clear.

 

What the seller said... It was advertised and brilliant uncirculated. Ms+. I'm guessing I would get details if sent to grade. I will not return this coin. I will keep it as a reminder and reference piece. The thing that might be bothering me the most are the scratches on the reverse over the eagles head surrounding I.G.W.T. These marks were washed out by reflections in the listing. The seller claims the Morgan's were found in an old vault of a building being demolished. Scratches do not appear to be coin strikes. I wonder if anyone else can elaborate on this..

 

Save the seller's scans or whatever too for the next time you see something that good based on scans or whatever. This was an inexpensive lesson I guarantee is going to pay off big for you going forward, and there's the bright spot.

 

I lose so many auctions on ebay, but I will say that I am suspect of any Morgan with such a high starting price that it is actually being auctioned. That's a great looking piece<EDIT> scratches aside, but I would have bid too little on it to win it. My own cost me much less than this, so it is probably a Chinese fake made on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain shortly after Chinese New Year back then.

I appreciate your humor in response to the claim that yours, too, is a Chinese fake—so many of them are, you know. In fact, it's coin collectors who send so many billions of dollars to Chinese sellers who are the real cause of the trade deficit.

 

I'm sorry I didn't get the reverse image. I was not bidding on it.

 

Yours does look better and a very good starting price for a graded coin. I think your bids will go over 100 on this. I was trying to stay under that. What is Olathe?

 

Why is this such a common spot for distractions?

 

Don't forget! There were millions of Morgan dollars in $1K bags stored in Treasury vaults until the 60's.

Chris

 

Who got all the good ones.

 

Lots of people! You didn't choose which coin(s) you wanted. The CC's weren't released until the 70's.

Chris

 

I was just being rhetorical and maybe a little resentful. I wasn't born until 1973 so I won't blame myself.

 

There was a 16000 coin Morgan hoard
Released in September. I wonder what that does to the overall Morgan dollar market.

 

You'd think it would bring prices down, more supply, same demand. But these "new york hoard" coins are being aggressively marketed (hyped) to the point that they are selling for more than coins without the hoard attribution on the holders.

 

Sorry wrong thread

 

Hey I'm glad you brought that up Jeff I was thinking the same thing. One thing comes to mind, De Beers diamonds. But they're actually the ones hoarding. The coins may have been distributed but they're being hoarded by us. I think they are just also very popular for collectors. Which drives demand up towards supply.?

 

There were 657 million Morgans produced between the years of 1878 and 1921. I wonder how many are left out there in a collectible condition. 16000 is a small fraction compared to that number. But what's the real number.?

 

Same here. Based on the seller's photos alone, I wouldn't have bid on this coin.