Hi...I'm new to the forum, feel lucky to have surfed into the site. Like S.P. Harper (thread 6-25), I have some Morgans to sell -- ten exactly -- and, while I've read your advice to Sean, have a few more questions. You dissuaded me from going imediately to ebay, since all I have is an Epson scanner which won't give serious collectors adequate visual info. Three coins are NGC and one is PCGS...the others are slabbed by some outfit called IGS, which is questionable. These six are preternaturally shiny. Not surprisingly, all are graded 65 or 66...So I gather the coins may have been manipulate--whizzed or dipped? Here's a scan of the 1880-S MS65 DMPLC...don't know if you can tell anything...my question is: I'm in NYC. I know Stack's on 57th St. Is this the best place to go for a valuation? Anywhere else to consider? Thanks so much. I almost wish I were a collector, this is such a nice place to hang out! Thanks... Sharon
Stacks is a good resource. Another good source is the ANA dealer guide. Just click on New York and you will find a handful of good dealers. http://anamarket.money.org/ IGS is a lower level grading service. So don't be surprised if many of the coins fall less than the marked grade.
goldrush - I noticed you said you were posting a scan - I assume you had some problems since I didn't see one. But if you can post pics of the 6 questionable coins - I'd be happy to try and help you out re: value. As for the other three - just list the grading company and grade if pics are a problem. Approx values for those are easy
Hi GDJMSP...You were so right...attachment problems. Which are happening again. But I think it's my file size. Alas, in going searching for the rules, I lost the entire reply. Did not realize it wouldn't save the page. The life of a newbie! Here goes again...OK. Thanks for your kind offer to look at the pix. I won't bore you with all six. This one is representative. Only problem is my Epson isn't reproducing an actual likeness. In real life, these six coins are bright and shiny. Maybe you'd call them bright white. That's how they really look. They're brighter and whiter than the PCGS and NGC Morgans, especially in the flat areas surrounding the head and the eagke. These look mirrory. There are teeny tiny surface abrasions on the face, for instance, but I kind of see these on some of the PCGS and NGCs...hard if you don't know what you're looking for. My honey is totally embarrassed to admit that, knowing zip about coins, he bought this passel years ago from...a TELEMARKETER!! Yes, indeed. A cold call from Florida. Don't ask. I think he also knows a gardener who will take out your gall bladder. By now, these Morgans are a family joke and we do not expect much. So don't feel bad...but any true facts you can give us will be much appreciated! Hope you are having nice weather wherever you are. It's raining raining here on the East coast tonight. Thanks from Goldrush
goldrush - Ya know - when I first read your post I wasn't holding out much hope for your coins. But you've been reading here for a while - ever recall me saying you can find nice coins in any slab as long as ya know what you're looking for ? Well I think maybe you - or your honey - did At least if that '78-S is any indication. Do me - and you - a favor. Get pics of all the coins - and blow 'em up to about twice that size. But unless I miss my guess ( kinda hard with pics to be sure ) that's sure enough a DMPL Morgan. That's a good thing It may just turn out the joke isn't on your honey after all But I'm outta here for the night - I'll look tomorrow
Good Morgan! Hi GDJMSP! Despite the persistent downpour and my pup's discomfort from yesterday's molar extraction (ouch), your email from last evening made me smile (insert smiley face, how?). Wow! If these coins turned out to be anything, I'd be shocked. Finally discovered via Google that DMPL does NOT mean a dimple-like scratch on the face, duh. You know, the coins' mirrory surfaces look too good to be real. We assumed they were messed with big-time. I'll have a photographer friend shoot them the right way, per your suggestion. Also the Isabella and two Columbians Jerry purchased from the same dealer. (Isabella's Accugrade grading likewise disheartened us.) Again, thanks a million. I'm going to start low-level collecting just to hang out with numismies (word?). You're a swell bunch. Enjoy the day, Cheers, Goldrush PS Here is Gumbo several years ago, now minus a left molar.
Hard to say with the small scan, but this looks like a pretty nice coin from these small pictures. Early S-mint Morgans are fairly frequently prooflike, so it's not hard for me to believe a '78-S could be original. Still, we need larger pictures and better close-ups to be more certain. From a distance, though, they do look purty.
Hi Ziggy, More encouragement...I'll have good photos done this week. My honey is a Texan, from the Houston area. Actually Bacliff on Galveston Bay. Grew up there with all his gazillion Cajun cousins, many of whom still live in the vicinity. Did you ever eat at a restaurant that used to be called Jimmy Walker's Edgewater in Kemah at the end of the strip? I'm hongry. Cheers, Goldrush
Now don't go gettin your hopes up too much - you're not gonna retire off this But if the coins are truly like what I think they might be - it aint nuttin to shake a stick at either I look forward to the pics.
Not yet. I'm pretty new to the area. Lived in California almost all my life until I transferred out here last year. The difference in cost of living and housing prices has become an "enabler" for my coin habit.
new Morgan pix! Hi...my good pal Jack took these pix today...Two of the six IGS Morgans attached, both obverse and reverse (getting the lingo down). These are the general look all the IGSs. Hoping you can tell if they've been fiddled with or original. Fingers, eyes, everything crossed. BTW, IGS graded the 1880-S as DMPLC MS65; the 1902-O they graded MS66. Thanks for taking the time, guys. Big rains again today, nice for the farmers. Enjoy your evening, Goldrush PS...I've got another set of images at higher resolution -- these are just for the Web. So if better pix would tell a better story, I can email as an attachment, if you want to divulge your email. TX, : )
Both are nice coins, but certainly not in gem state. The 80-S certainly has some proof surfaces, but kind of hard to tell by the pics if DMPL. Reverse yes, but looks a little weak on the back of Liberty's head. The 1902-O is nice, but way too many bag marks on the face and fields for a 66 grade. Overall nice coins.
I'll go along with Nd about the grades being too high - but I think both coins would make MS64. And as he said - always tough to judge by pics - but I think the '80 would make DMPL - really depends on the mirrors more than the frost. The '02 won't be DMPL. But here's a little test you can try - even though the coin is slabbed it should work fine. Hold the coin up and hold a magazine or something with print on it about 6" from the coin. If you can read the print in the reflection on the coin - then I'd say it's DMPL.
I am with GDJMSP on the MS64 - and the DMPL test. In slabs it is a little tougher to judge the mirror fields, but if the coin is still and the magazines or other object is hovered over the slab, you can usually distinguish between the slab reflection and the surface of the coin. These are nice - are you sure you want to sell? Regardless of the grades on the slabs, the coins are nice and maybe this is the tipping point where you want to learn a little more about them? Just a thought! My love for this series is quite strong, and the thought of you selling these is already making me a little misty! Glad you're here!
Hi all, Thanks for all the interesting info and feedback. The 80 passed the cool mirror test -- I held up typed text. There it was backwards, as it clearly was not with the other coins. I can see how people get hooked on this series...the Morgan is truly lovely. And the backstory is great -- silver lobby muscling for the issue, etc. (Why do YOU love them, CohibaCris?) I would collect the Os as I love New Orleans. I'm not sure what we will do. If these are 64s, they wouldn't fetch all that much. Guess they need to be slabbed. NGS or PCGS? The threads are hilarious...God, I love the Internet. Most exciting invention of my lifetime. Imagine all this knowledge, all this gumbo stew of classless opinion, right at your fingertips. Stupendous. Radical. Thanks again, gang. Still raining but I'm enjoying a Guinness draught. It really is better than the bottled. That's cause it's produced in Ireland. The bottled is from Canada. Irish water. Goldrush.
Nice coins, but as others have said, not 66's. To me, these seem backwards. The '80-S looks better than the '02-O to me -- the '02-O has a lot of significant hits on the cheek and neck. I think both are 64s, personally, with the 80-S having an outside shot at 65.
One more question...One of the NGC Morgans is 1904-O, graded MS65. It's different from the others, having an overall goldish tone that's almost got a hint of coppery-rose about it...the toning is fairly even on both sides. Can't get a fix on whether this makes it more or less desirable...seems that some people feel toning adds character but others like their coins shiny-new looking? Anybody know what this coin might be worth? It's really pretty... Goldrush
It might be because of the scan or it might be the coin itself - hard to say. But it is impossible to judge the luster based on that pic. But if it really is a 65 - about $100. If it's a 64 - half that.
GDJMSP, Really helpful...The NGC grade says 65. The pic doesn't really do justice to the coin. It's this pretty tone all over...Anyhow, thanks for the info once more.
