This is 1892CC Morgan given to me by my Grandma. I know nothing else about the coin. Any thoughts on whether the coin has been cleaned in the past. I see patina around the dates and other features on the coin but few marks that may have been made when cleaning that lack patina or am I missing something? I am new to collecting and am trying to learn as much as I can. I have included photos of the reverse and obverse plus I have tried to zoom in on to areas to look for marks made by cleaning. Any input would be help along with an estimate on the grade, and how you reached that grade. Start the lesson....
AU details but it looks to have suffered a harsh cleaning at some point in the past. As to how I arrive at that - it's pretty easy to see the wear at the high points of the obv in the hair, on the nose and bonnet and on the rev on the wing tips, breast and talons. The old harsh cleaning is signified by the hairline scratches in the fields of both sides.
How does cleaning effect the value/grade? You say AU detail but does the harsh cleaning lower the grade to an XF or lower. I have no intent to sell, but could you ever sell it, or will most collectors avoid it like the plague?
Depends on where you try to sell it and how ethical you are. take a lousy picture and post on eBay with a description - "what you see is what you get" at auction 300 - 1000 and a potential huge hassle as a seller with disgruntled buyer getting their money back and keeping the coin... way too many related variables to list with out writing a book raw in hand with an educated buyer? $100? who knows? good pics and honest description half posted CDNvalues.. again depending who the buyer is, what time of the year, day of the week, time of day, of course Certified in a TPG holder I think from what I know and have seen - my guesstimate of $250 wouldn't be unreasonable to expect from an excellent listing. here again, impossible to accurately estimate without having decent pics showing details. I would think you could get $100 for it all day long provided it was genuine. BTW-Internet & txt much? there are no push button answers with coin collecting. testing123
Au is still what I would grade it But as for cleaned??? A nice closeup of the Obv & Rev would help. I am 50% sure it not & 50% sure it was cleaned
Hard to tell from your photos if it has been harshly cleaned. My gut tells me yes. That being said i can see some luster still present, and the wear is very light as stated by Doug. From your pics i would say AU58. Back in the day it was very common for people to take a pencil eraser to coins in order to shine them up. Many coins were ruined in this fashion. IF the coin is not harshly cleaned it could bring up to around 960 or so. If it is cleaned, less than half of that is what you could expect to get for it. Being that it came from your grandma i would just hold on to it.
I see pocket wear. Harshly cleaned, not so sure. Your images are not bad but I'd want to see it in hand.
As stated, the answer to all your questions are - it depends. As a rule of thumb harsh cleaning can reduce a coin's value anywhere from 20% to 80%. To some collectors harsh cleaning means a lot, to others not so much. As for what it reduces the grade to, that also is not carved in stone nor are there even any vague guidelines to go by. It's a seat of the pants kind of thing that a knowledgeable individual will judge based on the severity of the problem. And it is not the grade that is reuced for problem coins are ungradeable. Instead it is the value that is reduced. In this case, my opinion would be that it reduces the value to that of an XF coin.
Thanks for the info. I haven't had the time to try and get more detailed pictures. But it seems like most people believe the coin has AU details but has been harshly cleaned. Again thanks for the input.
Lets say the coin has the details of an au55, what would be the responsible way to describe a coin like this if one was trying to sell it? Au55 (which is technically true), or something like au details cleaned? To me a numerical grade implies an apprx. value and that it is problem free.
It looks like a 53 to me, AU58 Morgans really need to look like nice 63+ uncs with just a trace of rub. Tough to make a determination on the surfaces from those pics, an awful lot of Morgans have die polish lines, but I also don't see heavy hairlines on that coin.
Personally from what i can see with the pics provided dont see harshly clean, maybe lightly but not harsly... But without seeing it in hand it's hard to tell for sure. I would go atleast AU-55 possiably MS-60+ with better pics! I would say value is between $450 and $1,500 But closer pictures would do wonders! If you have a loop you can put that up to your camera lens and that usally does good for close ups.
Hold your cursor over the coin, that will open an enlarged pic. Then holding your cursor over that enlarged pic, right click on it and select Open In A New Tab, or New Window. That will open the full size pics, each one more than fills my screen. And the harsh cleaning marks are quite easy to see.
Doug is being harsh. An acceptable, better than most, description would be: AU Details Improperly Cleaned Here are the eBay facts from the last 90 days for listings 1892 CC Morgan Cleaned Avg. Price: $159.31 Start Price: $0.99 Listings: 12 Sell-Through: 41.67% Here are the stats for a listing: 1892 CC AU Morgan Avg. Price: $427.28 Start Price: $54.11 Listings: 46 Sell-Through: 41.30% Interestingly adding PCGS only changes the start price. 1892 CC AU Morgan PCGS Total Sales $487 Total Listings 5 Successful Listings 1 Total Bids 2 Items Offered 5 Items Sold 1 Bids per Listing 0.40 Sell-Through 20.00% Hope that helps!
Thanks for the input on those Ebay listings, I don't have any plans to sell it, I just was wondering about the coins condition, mostly so I can learn what to look for in some of the coins she left me and how to judge coins in the future. Maybe I'll check out the Ebay listing to see how their coins look compared to mine. The coin is going to go in to a 2x2 and into the safe, so I can pass it on to my kids. Thanks for everyones help
