I'm wondering if anyone has seen crazy toned morgans in AU, or low MS grades. Ones that still have the pop and eye appeal of the color found in 67's but with lower grades. NOT album toned, but more bag toned or tissue paper toned that gives the vibrant bright colors. Post images if you can find them. Thanks!
No photos but a few years ago I saw a XF Silver Dollar that was nice looking. It was multicolored on the obverse with a light brown around the reverse edge. The dealer wanted an insane price.
I understand part of it is also due to people not protecting lower graded morgans but its odd that there are so few low grade bag toned morgans. The one in my avatar is MS 62 and i've never really seen any more below 64/5.
EDIT: also i know this isnt really a MONSTER but it has that vibrant color with the same toning pattern of the monsters, even if its not near the level. If that makes sense... :S
Hey, they've got to practice on something, and maybe sometimes they forget to do the final destroy-the-evidence dip before dumping them...
One potential explanation: when you see a beautifully bag toned morgan you know the coin was partially protected from other coins since it was against the bag on the toned side while in storage.
This one has sold a few times on eBay. I believe the photos are enhanced (from the original seller) but I think the coin is still fairly nice (especially for an AU 55). Someone must have really liked it as it sold for moon money the last time it was offered (over $1k).
And here are two that I used to own, both MS 61. Neither was a monster, but both had nice color. The NGC was obverse toned while the PCGS was reverse toned.
There are some out there, but not many. MS 63-MS 65 is probably the most common grade for most Morgans and it's usually the most common grade for Morgan toners too.
To round out some other low grades, here is an MS 60 toner I once owned: AU 58: Another AU 58: And MS 62:
Toning and luster are very closely tied to each other, the one depends upon the other to a large degree. So as a general rule, if a coin has low quality luster, or little luster left as in the case of a circ example, then it's far less likely for the coin to have attractive toning. And since quality of luster is arguably the most important grading criteria, and since luster is a large part of determining a coin's eye appeal (the other primary grading criteria), if a coin has low quality of luster then it's likely to grade low.
My lowest MS toned Morgan is this 1904-O: My lowest AU Morgan, although not a monster, is this 1880, which also has a PL quality to it:
I almost bought the two enders of an 83O roll today. Wish that the guy would have dealt with me cause they would have been fun to add to @GDJMSP statement on toning and luster.
I would say the lowest to exist would have to be AU-55. Otherwise the lack of luster would not make the color pop.
I guess it depends on your definition of monster. Here's my lowest graded "monster", MS63. Liberty looks like she's been in a knife fight, but the toning and underlying luster are awesome. (The scratch in front of and over the eye is on the slab, as is the one by the I in PLURIBUS).
@ddddd : Take that obverse toned MS-61 and the reverse of the other, and you got yourself a monster. Oh, and that 1884-O has a real bad case of "O mint strike," but cool color. It's rare to see MS-60 coins that are even vaguely attractive.
@Skyman - green is my favorite tone on any coin, especially Morgans. Yours is absolutely gorgeous. You should name it Emerald Glory.
