I have nothing in a slab, so could you guys explain to me how these coins can grade MS with all the dings & scratches? I've been going off what I've seen from this site since I joined that a lot of these dings are ignored when grading. I thought MS means uncirculated!
Dionhurst....dings can happen in the manufacturing process or other areas...so uncirculated truely means they have not been worn and the mint luster is complete. So a coin comes out of a press, falls into a bin, than a few hundred or thousand more coins fall on top of it. This coin has dings, dents, scratches, etc...but has never been circulated. Or a coin being minted is being done late in the life of the die...the die has been used, cleaned, even polished but is still useable...the coin coming out could have voids, die polish marks, or more...and is not circulated. Circulated coins have been touched, rubbed, in a pocket, slid across the table, many things that disturb the luster of the coin that only existed right after it has been made. This luster, when disturbed, is the sign of a circulated coin. Several of the coins in this grading contest have been pretty beat up...some have had parts of the design flawed through die polishing, but still have full mint luster. Some coins (not in this contest), have varieties created by polishing. The "No FG" Kennedy's are an example where the designers initials were removed from the die during polishing...and coins minted after do not have the FG initials....still uncirculated if the luster is complete as it is a problem created in the manufacturing process....not one created after the coin is put into circulation. Hope this helps.
In some cases (Morgan Dollars especially) you will see dings and scratches but those are not due to circulation, but rather to the way the coins were stored. In the case of Morgans, a lot of them were put in bags and placed in bank vaults. The cuts, dings and scratches were from the coins coming into contact within the bags.
Good point Green. I would like to add also the fact of how these Morgans got to the bank. Railroads, stagecoach and wagons. Awful rough travel. Sliding around, shifting and getting scratched in those canvas bags. Next time you watch an old western movie on T.V. and the stagecoach gets robbed, what is the first thing the masked outlaws say to the driver? "Throw down that strongbox!" Driver throws it down, it hits the ground, bounces a couple of times. So there ya go, more dinged up coins! (Dumb joke, I know).
Thanks guys! All good explanations, much appreciated! Time to start my kick for the lead in the final lap!!!
Merc -- 63 -- I'm thinking that hit on the lower left of the fasces, which at first just looked like a leaf, is too big to go much higher in an OGH. The surfaces sure look nice, though. Morgan 1 -- 63 -- the reverse is really nice; shame about the pit bull attack on the obverse. Morgan 2 -- 64...ish?
And here they are: Lot's of ACTION....: ... but all behind the leader. How many times have we seen it folks.... last lap, coming out of turn 4 and hitting the straightaway, and all of a sudden the pack behind the leaders blows apart in thier final last ditch attempt to make a run while the leader simply smiles while looking at the chaos in his rearview mirror......All is lost, middle earth will parish to the trolls in Mordor, and only those who've already abandoned middle earth to the etheral cheerleading section will survive... The EYE OF RAIDAR IS UPON US ALL and there is apparently no Hobbit among us who can steal his ring !! Let review the stats: .9 to 1.40 this round... and lots of movement on the leaderboard. AND, next round will be our 2nd dropped score !!,, I'm hoping that will put me over RAIDER with a bit of help from the scorekeeper. CRASHES: none :hail: everyone appears to be holding for the finish line EXACTA's > NADA !! ,, but RAIDER came close,,, AGAIN !! Now - THE LEADER BOARD 1 ) The most honorable HORSES A#*.. - Our CHAMPION of sludge retains his title DIONHURST !!..... 1.38,,,, although a few folks appears to making a move to join you back there. 2 ) EXACTA's: RAIDER - with 15 !!, gobbling them up like packman. :rollling: - LOCKED IN AS WINNER. 3 ) BEST GRADER (avg score): RAIDER.... at .46,,, gave back what he took last round only to have everyone else in the field give back more..... :hammer: well done !! Finally: Here is the full list. With (Name > avg score > exacta's) Time to put these out in rankings coming down the straightaway : 1st - RAIDER - .46 - 15 ...... "hey rabbit", said the turtle, "would this be a nice spot for a nap" ? 2nd - DUKE - .72 - 8 3rd - SRO - .77 - 8 .... Charging up to metal position !! 4th - BAHA- .81 - 8 ... dang it !! 4th - MIKENOOD - .81 - 9 ... where on earth did he come from ?!! 5th - JALLENGOMEZ - .85 - 8 .... staying the bad air with most others. 5th - USMONEY - .85 - 8 ... another one charging up towards the metal board !! DT MENACE - .92 - 7 LINCOLNCNT - .92 - 7 SHOE - .96 - 5 GREEN - 1 - 5 2SNAZ - 1.04 - 8 ... from HA to middle of the pack and in reach of the metal with a dropped score next round !! watch out !!!! FERR - 1.04 - 7 IKAN - 1.04 - 5 JELLO - 1.04 - 4 RLM - 1.04 - 4 WIGG - 1.04 - 7 JEFFB - 1.08 - 7 MARK - 1.08 - 5 HOWBT - 1.12 - 8 CAML - 1.27 - 7 KRISPY - 1.27 - 6 DION - 1.38 - 4 ... horrible finish, but some interesting action in mid-field,, :thumb: :thumb: