Help with grading

IMO slider,AU58-MS60 with 3 or more vam possibilities.Without having it in hand #1: Looking at the close-up of the date it could be a VAM 7, The 9 being set higher than the rest of the date.The book also says that some specimens have a die chip between the loops of the 2nd 8 on the right.#2:Vam 9, Date slanted, w/ 9 being higher than the 1 & an open 9, #3: Vam 12, 1 with slight double of the crossbar,date further right and the 9 higher than the 1 and the picture shows a die chip between the loops of the 8on the right side. I got this info from The Comprehensive Catalog & Encyclopedia of Morgan & Peace dollars by VanAllen & Mallis. Good luck, I like the coin.... John

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Thanks again everybody for the input. A lot of great information that I'm look in to.

 

Good eye, that picture looks doctored IMO

 

Wow, I didn't even notice those but since you mentioned it I took a close look at the part you cropped. Those circular pits... I have read about them some in coin grading and counterfit detection by pcgs. I still have alot of studying to do...

the date blowup on the 9, that odd part you mentioned, I didn't pick up on that either but now I see what you refer to. I copied the picture and pasted it into paint. After that i used view => zoom => large size and behold... It does look image doctored. Also in this zoom blow up I noticed a pit about above the 9 about 11:00 position. The way the pit appears looks like a molten bubble burst and dried (casting or doctoring?).

A was thinking the whizzing was done by taking the rotary wire brush and using its 'rim' and starting from the inner surfaces and taking it to the denticles, where there seems to be uniform bright areas. Everywhere I examine in a blow up I see the lines terminating onto bright areas (where plain field meets raised features). Below is a portion of the blowup focusing on the 9, starting with the odd pit. Too bad paint wouldnt allow me to cover as much area because the odd line terminates at the rim as well GD speaks of.

 

I scanned the actual coin myself using my HP all-in-one as well as photographed it myself using an older 3.2 MP sony digital. I noticed the line that you're talking about too and let it be know that this line is not present on the actual coin. The images have not been doctored in any way, shape, or form. I believe this line appeared when I resized the images, and I'm attributing it to Paint Shop Pro, which I use to resize high res scans. I dont believe that the coin is a cast fake, but as I am not an expert, I could be wrong. I'm including photos below of Liberty's neck and of some chips on one of the stars that would lead me to believe that it could be a VAM 7. Upon closer examination in the photo of the star chips, the field in front of liberty's face shows signs of parallel scratching, leading me to believe that it has been whizzed. What do you guys think?

 

My 2 cents worth (not an expert): to me those look more like metal flow lines on a nearly uncirculated/uncirculated coin. Since whizzing is done with a rotating brush, the lines are fairly broad if it is used in a linear fashion, or there are no lines at all if it is used in a circular fashion to create 'luster' instead of simply to smooth the fields. I can't say for sure if it is a fake or not. If you see any tiny holes or pits in the dentils or devices, that is pretty strong evidence for a transfer die forgery.

 

Glad to see you saw what I did.

I did not concider the odd 9 at first glace, but on second look, the line runs throught the 9 to the rim leading me to believe that if the picture isn't altered, then the coin is. It looks like an attempt to make an 1888 to look like an 1889. If it is a genuine pic of the coin it's the oddest attempt, IMHO, to make an 1888 look like an 1889. (possibly to add the CC later.) Either way, I can say that it is not a far date (set to the right) because the vertical line of the 1, on the left side, is set exactly where it should set between the denticals below it.