1893s morgan found in flowerbed

Hello, I'm not really a coin collector but my father found a coin about 15 years ago while weeding our flowerbed in Ellensburg, WA and he's been holding onto it since. Recently I asked him about it and after a little looking found it to be a sought after collectors coin.
Here are some pics:



My question is what is the real value of this coin in its current condition? There are rim nicks where he hit the coin with a shovel when he found it. What does this do to the value? Can this coin be graded and if so what grading (roughly) would it recieve?


Thanks for any info!

 

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Good find! I wish my flowerbed had a few Morgans growing in it.

I would say that the coin is in F-12 to F-16 condition. Don't have my values book with me to look up that year and mint mark, but the silver content puts a $24-25 floor on the value.

 

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The 1893-S is the KING of Morgans. If that's real, it's worth $2k, easy. Send it off to be graded... the shovel hits will impact the value substantially, unfortunately.

By the way, don't handle it by the obverse or reverse, only hold it by the reeded edge.

 

This would be best sent into NCS/NGC though I do believe it would be put into a details holder. The approx value would range between $3,000 and $4,000

 

Don't believe anything these guys tell you! It has been improperly cleaned. It has damage on the rim, and in spite of it having the lowest mintage of all of the Morgan dollars, it's only worth a little more than melt value. I'll give you $50 dollars for it.

Now, if you are skeptical about what others have said here and you want to take it to a dealer for their estimate, and you get responses like what I just said above, politely thank the dealer, take the coin and walk out the door..........and don't ever go back!

Oh, by the way. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Chris

 

Welcome to CT!

 

Thanks for all the replies! The funny thing is that my father carried this coin in his pocket as a good luck charm for like 10 years after he found it. He really had no idea it was worth anything more than its stated value. Who is NCS/NGC and whats the process like sending a coin in to be graded? Also whats a details holder? Thanks again for the info!!

 

NCS is a coin conversation company and NGC is a company that is the largest grader in the world. A details holder gives the coin a grade, like say EF, but not a specific
number due to improper cleaning or damage.

 

$$50 wowww that is amazing.....just for that date and mintmark regardless of cond. it is worth big$$ ..$50 in my opinion is a joke

 

1893-S pocket piece.

I've now seen it all.

BTW, I'm pretty sure Chris was joking about the $50 offer...

 

?

 

They talk a lot.

 

I'm sorry, but I'm skeptical on its authenticity. I have an 1893 CC that looks very similar, and I'm almost certain it's a chinese fake (considering it was purchased FROM a chinese vendor known to sell fakes on eBay!). I would very much like to hear anyone's arguments for the case that this coin is authentic, because I'm not convinced.

 

Wow! Quite a great find!!

 

I too, am skeptical. I'd suggest taking it to a dealer before sending it off, actually. See if they think it's real... if it's not, they won't make an offer, if it is, they will... even if they say it's not real.

 

I'm not a Morgan collector, or US collector at all, but I was shocked to find that the estimates for this coin are currently $24-$4000. Usually there's consistency on here, and seeing such a wide range of estimates (or maybe guesses) is a bit worrisome, I hope the quality of opinions on CT isn't going down

As for the coin, excellent find either way, I hope you get as much $ for it as possible.

 

It does look base metal-ish.

 

They got the date spacing correct for a 1893 S. The one is centered over the denticle. The 1893 S is the only 1893 of which the 1 is centered over the denticle. So it's either a good copy where someone took the time to get this very small detail right.... or a genuine coin.

 

Sorry to add to the ambiguity, but you'll have to extend that range another 24 dollars (as in, to zero). I think it's a fake and therefore only worth melt to collectors (it may be cast in silver). I'm no expert, just citing personal experience with morgan fakes. If I were a dealer I'd skip buying this one... perhaps as this thread progresses we'll see if that would be a bad decision.


edit: Keep in mind my estimate is a numismatic one... the story behind unearthing it and the years its been in one's possession obviously makes it of immense sentimental value

 

To me the denticle count doesn't look right based on this version of the diagnostics:

http://anacs.com/contentPages/ShowArticle.aspx?ID=48

But it doesn't matter what any of us think on this forum, take it to a dealer or send it into a Third party grading service (NGC/PCGS/ANACS) to get it authenticated. With the rim dings it might come back as a damaged coin. But if it is authentic, that coin is worth $2-3K. I just saw one in simliar condition F/VF with the rims all beat up go for $2500 on EBay last week.

Good luck!