GTG: 1889 $1 Gold

Try this one.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

64

Luster appears strong, eye appeal is fantastic. There's a pretty large mark on the cheek, especially given how small the coin is. Very nice!

 

MS65

 

64 only because of the slight distractions on the cheek and behind the head, the mark that crosses the E on the slab or on the coin?

 

63

 

MS64

 

MS 63+

 

I'll go with ms-63+. Obviously it's the mark on the cheek. Some microscopic ticks in the fields. I believe the services are/should be tough on the gold dollars as these small coins often tend to come very nice. Also 1889 is not a magic date/ mint despite being the last year made.

 

MS 63

 

That does have amazing luster. I'm going 62+, or 63

 

Slab

 

I have a fondness for last years of issue. It is an affordable coin.

 

64 and great luster

 

MS-63

 

64? great looking coin!

 

OK. Everyone was on it, or very close.

 

Yeah!! I got this one right, as did others. Very nice coin.

 

When it comes to grades for the late date Type III good dollars, it often depends upon when it was graded and which company did the grading. I put together a “short set” of these from 1880 to 1889. The third party graders were tough as nails on these from time they opened until say the early 2000s. Some of the “old green label” (OGL) PCGS coins are or close to under graded. NGC tended to be a bit loser. The 1889 you have would have graded as low as MS-63 during this period.

In more recent years, the standards have slipped. One of the last coins I bought was in an MS-65 NGC holder. It was no better than the MS-63 coins for the earlier years. I bought it because the dealer sold it at a deep discount, well below the grade on the holder.

 

Nice. I thought high end 63 myself.

 

Thanks for this explanation john Milton. I'll also go into a bit a my own experience. Years ago I bought this 1880 gold dollar out of a C.E. Bullowa auction. To make roon for other things I decided to sell it through a "Bowers and Merena" auction. B&M used to be a major auction house for nicer US. B&M took this 1880 coin and graded it ms-63. This is my photo which isn't the best. The coin is fully cameo P/L but this photo brings out some very small ticks in the obv field which are less evident in person. The reverse is flawless but nobody cares about that.



Even graded as an ms-63, this coin didn't sell so I got it back. There does appear to be a mark on the neck in this photo which I don't recall in the actual coin. I remember the reason that the coin was 63'd were the small ticks in the obv field.

This is also a problem I have today in trying to buy golds out of on-line auctions. Many of the slabbed 64 level specimens have large unsightly marks on Liberty's face. I guess I'll stick to circulated silver thalers [foreign] from the 15th & 16th centuries...