Thanks this was a lucky eBay win where the pics did not do the coin justice. I think that's why the price didn't really get close to the actual value. I like it a lot too. It's got a really nice light golden toning starting on the entire coin. I've never been big on blast white silver coins.
Nice coin! Looks nice and frosty, just like I like'em. Grading is as much art as science. I say MS62.
They cook them and then give them a light redip. By cooking they use a frying pan. You get yellow leaning towards brown and white. Also look at the curl of hair above the ear. There's no details on it. Not good IMO.
I think that the hair above the ear is less detailed because of a somewhat weak strike. I've got NGC slabbed MS Morgans with the same looking hair above their ear. I can't see any other apparent wear on the leaves or cotton. I am contemplating getting it graded that's partly why I want your opinions on this coin.
It's a VERY subtle tone. I wouldn't really call it golden, but it's not bright white like some. I'm 99.9% sure it natural.
Thats actually not too bad of a strike for an O mint morgan, they are notoriously weak strikes. Here are some quotes from Dean Howe's in depth study of morgan dollars. "The 1891-O is among the most consistantly soft struck morgans. many original 91-O dollars display an attractive golden/yellow toning."
Well this is the flip side of the limitations of my recent +2 system. My initial impression is AU53 due to what appears to be rubbing on the highest elements of the hair, cap and wing tips. Since two notches moves the grade to AU58 which is not a choice, I went with MS60. Well struck but worn as opposed to poorly struck and not should be different, even if the prices are equivalent.
