Good day, I hope everyone is well and happy. I'm wondering if I could get some opinions on my 1886 Morgan Dollar. I'm looking to sell parts of my small collection and being a novice in coin collecting, I'm still trying to figure out, well, everything. Specifically, I'm curious about what grade the coin is and about its worth. Plus, there's a dent on one edge that I'm wondering if it was done during the press or after the fact. I understand that without seeing the coin in person, any ideas given are opinions and that I should have the coin appraised to know its true condition and worth. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and sharing your valued opinions.
Surface preservation has been poor…pitting is a serious detractor…looks to have been improperly cleaned and the rim dent means it was dropped or hit on the edge with some tool. 1921 Philly Morgans are a very common one… …worth $30-33…jmho…Spark
Hi Tegan Traylor, welcome to coin talk! I'd agree with the opinion except it's an 1886P not a 1921P. melt value is around $21.00 or so, it could sell somewhere in the area of $30-$40 most likely but due to the condition I'd agree with Spark1951s valuation, it could push up if you sold on ebay and you get a couple people bidding against each other to get it to $40ish. but it's clearly not Mint State which is what it would take to get it to the $50-$60 range or higher in my opinion, so even if it wasn't dinged or cleaned, or pitted (the black spots around her forehead on the obverse) and was still in uncirculated condition, it still doesn't break $100 until MS63 or so, and doesn't get really crazy until MS67 and above, which it isn't. I'd give you a grade, but realistically if it was sent in for grading it would come back a problem coin most likely for either corrosion, cleaned, or damaged by that ding or a combination. It's not a "cull" coin, it's not that bad, but there's a whole lot better condition coins of that date it would be competing against out there which will hold it down. it should sell for more than melt, but I can't see it going for more than XF value and the difference between G and XF as far as the values for that year is like $5 of play so not really worth looking much deeper as far as grading goes. Maybe you'd have interest in checking out VAM world. people collect Morgan dollars by die pairs and varieties, it might not add any value to the coin, but it might teach you something you didn't know about morgan dollars. if you have interest in seeing if that's a VAM and cataloged, the link is here for 1886P VAMs: http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wiki/1886-P_VAMs it has pictures and what to look at to identify the VAM. Who knows it might add a couple buck to it if it's a top 100 or something.
…sorry, late and tired last night, got two posts mixed…the analysis was for the 1886P…the comment for the ‘21P Morgan with all the red squiggles that was posted twice to include the reverse…jmho…Spark
The last digit in the date is strange. When I click twice on op's pic it expands each time. Shows the details real well. It looks like a cross between an 8 and a 6. Any one else see that ? The denticles look rather odd in the area of 7 oclock to 9 oclock too.
Could be one of the VAMs, that would need investigating, and not necessarily it will add value but may be interesting to a VAM collector. Pictures would need to be a whole lot better to try to do it by photos, there's too much light and it blurs when enlarged.
Thnx for the response sir. I may have jumped the gun there. I looked at 3 other specimens and they seem to have the same type of features. The sixes just look like eights to me. Same with the denticles, they match the other specimens too. Those coins are so beautiful that I guess I expect perfection. The N in unum has something goin on though it seems.
No problem, tere is something up with the 6, just hard to tell what, there's connected 6, and line in 6 and bar 6 and curved spiked 6, all just die identifiers but from there, you'd have to check the other identifiers for exact matches. pictures just aren't good enough for that which is why I recommended VAMWorld if the OP wanted to go deeper on it.
Agreed sir. One other thing though, the N in unum seems a bit odd. Not the damage ( small smashed area), but the thin left vertical going up seems to extend beyond the top of the letter.
At first glance, I question if it is even real. Those marks and apparent bubbles on it remind me of cast fakes, but I'm by no means a Morgan collector, so what do I know? If it is real, I wouldn't pay more than melt in the condition it's in.
Welcome to CT Tegan. Your Morgan appears real but has many issues. Your decision to sell would not bring you much over melt value, perhaps 25-35 dollars, in my opinion. All Morgan's are keepers to me. You would be wise to seek a local Numismatist for advice, but do not sell until you are totally sure that is what you want to do. Good luck.
OK, based on the pictures this is what would be considered a cull. It's to banged up and it was cleaned. If you were to sell it and were offered $25.00 I would take it and run. There are just to many issues with this coin. Dealers in my area would put that dollar in a cigar box in their case with other dollars in similar condition and sell them for about $28.00 to $30.00. It a good coin to use as a pocket piece you really can't hurt it.
I agree 100%. Looks like casting marks, along with other odd details mentioned afore. Is it the proper weight and silver content? It looks more like pewter. Looks more like the rev. of 21. I think it's a poor quality fake...Just an opinion from a novice.
I think that response is exactly what new members are hoping to get. An honest critique of their coin. Delivered in the manner you delivered it. Well done Mr. Burgess, well done.....martha
Appreciate the kind words Martha. I wish I was always in that kind of mood when I responded. hahaha. I think it's not that bad of a coin but it's common and it's not in the best shape. I think with researching the VAM and if that pans out as a desirable variety it's still not gonna be "get rich" but it might get a couple people wanting it just for an example of the VAM to look at in person and bid it up a little between them. I wouldn't necessarily sell it for melt or to a dealer if it was me, whatever little "meat on the bone" there might be would get eaten up by them and I feel to get the most out of it, it would be a honest listing on ebay with good pictures or a person to person sale and no middle man at all. Even just for silver the way the market is right now you might get a couple people willing to overpay a bit against each other rather than pay a dealer their insane premiums right now. Realisticlly speaking a cull common date Morgan dollar is gonna cost someone $35 at APMEX right now, a common date AG grade would cost them $36. That's not what they would pay for them though.
You are welcome. Perhaps, and I hope this to be the case, you have set an example to all of us, ME INCLUDED that this is what cointalk is all about.....martha
It certainly looks that way, especially on that heads side. That might explain those pops, that look like the onset of corrosion, but are so atypically bright and shiny. It was dipped and wiped there.
