Hello all. I know some of you folks are experts at detecting dipped coins by color/luster. I've got a 79 Morgan that is just a strange coin. It shows wear, although not much. It has a good strike and good detail, but the color is odd to me. It has a slight amount of gold tone around the rim, but the color seems to bright for a 131 year old coin. It's possible that it's a fake too, but I think that's far less likely. Please check it out and tell me what you think. (Dipped coins is not a subject I know much about, at this point.)
This looks to me to be a real Morgan. It has been heavily worn tho and lacks all of its luster. The hairline over the ear is worn smoot as well as the eagles breast feathers on the reverse. IMO a nice old Morgan worth spot value.
If these are scans, I would say that the coin is a low AU. If these are photos, the coin has been dipped to death and would only receive a "Details" grade. Chris
I'm pretty new to this, how can you tell that the coin has been dipped before? Is it the wrong color or is it the lack of luster?
I would also agree that the coin is low AU or possibly EF-45 and cleaned/dipped. It looks like it has been dipped, primarily due to the lack of luster. A coin in that grade would typically have some luster left. Another tip that it has potentially been dipped is the even color across the coin, most (but not all) coins that are 131 years old will have some type of toning or blemish if they haven't been dipped, cleaned or otherwise tampered with.
The lack of luster is part of it, but you will also note that there is dirt built up inside and around some of the letters and stars. These are the hardest areas to get clean, and when you see a coin that looks like this one where the other surfaces are relatively clean, it's pretty much a given that the coin has been dipped. Chris
This is good stuff folks. I appreciate everyone taking a gander at my old Morgan. I'm still struggling to learn about altered coins. I've just not had enough of them in-hand. I thought this one had probably been dipped, perhaps years ago, due to the odd, uniform color and the fact that the luster, or lack thereof, is so strange. It's also got an odd finish under 5x magnification. It's like there are tiny, tiny pits all over the coin. I assume from some harsh acid at some point. Thanks again for your help folks.
Dippe Morgan agree - Dipped, or cleaned. (my opinion) :goof: And the light golden peripheral tone[that you mentioned suggests to me that it was done perhaps a year ago,or 2 depending on how it has been stored. Toning is a progressive process, often beginning like this on dipped coins, and continuing through various color changes to blue and eventually black. Despite the wear, it's not a bad looking coin. If you deide to keep it you might store it in a paper envelope, exposed to the air, and allow the toning to continue. It may or may not develope attractive tones. It's impossible to predict the outcome. If our collective opinions are correct and the coin has been cleaned & you decide to sell it, then the ethical thing is to describe it as 'cleaned', and that limits it's resale value.
