GTG, and comments. 1885cc Morgan

Ok, how about grading this Morgan, and please feel free to make comments in as much detail as you wish.

 

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First impression: MS64

Reverse looks really nice. Marks on obverse fields and profile; grade would depend on how visible they are in hand (because sometimes they appear way more prominent in a picture due to how the light hits them.)

I could easily see this as a 65, though. Could also slightly see it as a 63.

 

MS 65
....looks to have nice luster and is relatively clean; the cheek is decent; there is some chatter in the left obverse field (to the left of the eye and nose) that I believe limits a higher grade

 

65

Luster and strike on par for 66. The marks to me are distracting enough to keep it below premium gem.

 

I'm at 64 on this one.

 

Since I habitually undergrade these, I'm going to guess 65; I see some minor luster abrasions on the obv but no real marks. Strike is certainly adequate and plenty of luster.

 

MS64 with booming luster. It's some kind of VAM, look at all those cracks on the back.

 

Very nice...will go 64/64+

 

I'm at a 63! Reverse is beautiful but I find the marks on the obverse distracting!! If it looks better in hand I would probably come up to a 64!

 

MS65

OBV: MS65, those bag marks before her face
REV: MS67, I do t see any large distracting marks

 

Some interesting observations. Some hints. This coin has some die state issues. On the obverse there are some die markers (small circles, and elongated die marker in the left fields). There is a die crack between the bottom left star, and 1885.

On the reverse, there are several die cracks that are pretty interesting, and some die markers—artifacts. To me, the marks don’t look like classic Morgan dings. Look at the Eagle’s breast—the strike is not great for an early CC mint.

My take is that the coin shows die deterioration, rather than standard baggieness. The cheek, which is prime Morgan contact area is clean.

Comments on this? Questions?

 

I am thinking it got MS-65 Star

 

Waiting for a few more, then I will post the graded coin. There will be some surprises.

 

First impression 65. After looking harder I could add a +.

 

Sure. The blemishes are there, whatever their origins. They're plain as day. They're forgiving a lot, rationalizing to death, if they 66 or 67 this for its apparently booming luster, which is the only countervailing factor I'm seeing, quite honestly. And look it up in VAM. That's all those Bozos do, look for cracks. I'd be shocked if this one got by them. Bottom-line, I can bid it at 65, but that's the roof.

 

To me this looks like great collections photos. I have found there coins usually look better than the photos so higher than 65 star would not surprise me if that’s the case. Looking forward to reveal

 

Ok, won’t prolong this one. I agree with @COOPER12, that the pictures do not flatter the coin at all. Once again, I believe that it is a strange combination of poor die state, and great luster, and is an extremely bright coin. Are the surfaces marred enough by bagmarks to bring the grade down to sub gem level? In my view, no. Is it a high level gem? Probably not, as the die deterioration did leave artifacts on the coin. My view is that it is still an attractive coin, and here is how NGC called it. Albanese agrees, apparently:




Do I think it is a high level 66? No. To me, it is more like an upper level 65, or 65+. It does look better than the pictures reflect. As I said in my article I wrote last year, counting the bagmarks is not a productive way to grade Morgans.

Would I pay 66 money for this coin? No, I didn’t. For high 64 to low 65 money, it was well-priced. It was a bargain for me at high 3 figures, as opposed to being a $2,000 coin. A dealer was liquidating inventory, so it went out the door at way under retail for a 66–as I said low level 65 prices. I, personally, would have graded it at 65+.

 

Cool coin for sure

 

Great coin.
I have two 66 Morgans, and I think they're both overgraded.

 

thanks for the detailed description and observation, Morgandude. I feel I learn something from each of your posts. From conversations on the CAC forum, it appears that JA prizes luster, surface preservation and eye appeal the most, strike the least, and die state.. well I don't recall any mention of die state factoring into the evaluation.