Was going to bid on this one, but decided not to--

A friend alerted me to this Morgan on Ebay, since he knows I like premium Morgans and toned coins. Had a snipe set, but was very uneasy, as the photographs just rub me wrong. It was advertised (raw) as a BU, and toned. After blowing up the images, and relying on my experiences, I feel two things:

A) it is NOT an MS coin--I see wear on the obverse.
B) the toning is probably AT. It could be real, but is a bit atypical for Morgans of that date, especially with a white reverse.

Also,the seller had really BAD overall feedback, so I am going to pass on it. Too bad--it is a pretty coin.

 

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Awww...

Always best to go with your gut feeling and do your due diligence in researching the seller.

 

Look at the hair---definite wear in the curls and on the top, where the motto is. Not MS--gives the impression of MS, but doesn't look like it on close examination. I think it has been played with to make it look good. Seller has tons of negs and neutrals.

 

I don't doubt your experience for Morgans. To be honest, I don't know the difference between a weak strike and wear. No doubt you are making the right decision if you have any second thoughts at all.

As far as the toning goes...I am not convinced it is AT however.

 

If it were New Orleans, I might buy a low level MS, due to weak strikes. It is Philly, (while not always the best strike for that date, certainly stronger than that) and I just see wear there in the obverse. Also, that toning on the obverse is spectacular. You'd think the reverse would have a bit of rim toning if it weren't AT. Usually, some of the toning bleeds over to the other side of Morgans like that. Seller has over 50 negs,and 7 negs/neutrals this month alone. PASS.

 

Eek. Good call. Frankly, a couple negs are enough for a pass in my book.

The colors really remind me of Chris's (cpm9ball) avatar.

 

Ok, I've had it. What is AT toning?

 

AT = Artificially Toned.
NT = Naturally Toned

Although it's not that cut and dry. We could have a 20 page discussion about it. In fact there are probably many threads here regarding what is considered AT vs NT.

 

gbroke, I just have a gut on this coin. One that pretty, I'd have slabbed. I have a strong feeling that it would come back body bagged with a "91" code, and would be AU. Recently I went to a friend's show in Orlando, and he's a pretty big dealer. Won't mention names for obvious reasons--he's honest. There are two or three coin "painters" in the Orlando area that hawk pretty looking Morgans just like that for decent money ($500-2000), and want dealers to purchase and resell them. He refused several times, and I respect him tremendously. They paint on chemicals that create monster tone, and bake them. It won't fool a TPG, but if one keeps it raw--oh well, an expensive "shake and bake" coin.

Bet this baby goes for over $300. It is at $81 now.

 

Often artificial toning is only done to both sides, real toning is often seen on just one from laying on a flat surface.

 

I honestly don't know how I didn't figure that one out myself. I can see how there could be a debate, seeing that some folders tone coins and such.

 

I know I've seen coins with that type of toning slabbed before.

For fear of it not slabbing, I wouldn't buy the thing.

I think you are fine on holding off. Gotta trust your gut.

 

I recently purchased a mercury dime collection at a tag sale and every single dime had an incredibly prominent multicolor tone, the coin folder they were in was from the 50's so most of the coins were in good shape but when i got home and examined them the backs of the coins were completely tone free, half of the edges were and all of the faces, im assuming that some chemical in storage caused this just because they were toned on the front but the backs were preserved by the folder.

 

It really goes both ways. Sometimes the part touching the album (the reverse) will tone due to the chemicals in the album paper, while the obverse does not.
Alternatively, depending on the air conditions, the obverse is exposed to the air and will tone, while the reverse is protected by the album.

 

Thats one of the problems with buying raw toned coins on ebay. Many of them are AT which leads many collectors to buy mostly graded toned coins. This makes it very difficult at times to tell whats AT or NT. The only way I would buy raw toned coins on ebay if is its only slightly toned.

 

First things first: Trust your gut. If you don't have a good feeling, walk away and don't look back.

That being said, I like to check out questionable auctions/sellers. I found this auction and I don't know. He seems OK. I'm not going to say he seems anything above OK, like reputable, or ethical, but just OK. He only has two negative feedbacks and 1104 positives in the past month.

But he is like many of those FeeBay sellers where you really have to read every word in the auction or you will be disappointed when you receive your item. Like all those people that expect they are going to receive 15 gold coins when they pay $70 for 15 random coins from an "ESTATE SALE LOT OF MIXED SILVER GOLD CURRENCY COINS" (which was one of his recent auctions). If you read the auction specifics, it says each winner will receive:

- Gold in every lot
- Silver coin(s)...
- Graded coin...
- Proof set...
- etc

For whatever reason, people are probably expecting one or more one ounce gold coin in the mail. But, it simply says "gold", not gold coin and not solid gold. Just gold. That means you're getting a small gold plated coin, or one of those little jars with gold flakes in it.

Sometimes the feedback people leaves me scratching my head:

Neutral: "they arrived early & Im pleased with them"

So, in the end, is this really the guy you want to buy what you're hoping is a premium Morgan? Probably not. While he might not be a straight up con-artist, good call on walking away.

 

I always like to read people's negatives before judging someone off of them. Some people really should NOT be allowed to have an eBay account. Actually, I take that back, some people shouldn't be allowed access to the Internet in general.

 

It is AU, has a dull polished kinda look on the obverse, and has questionable toning. Stay away from it.

 

Exactly, ive seen this too, i was debating whether or not to mention it

 

Oh of course you get only ONE side of the coin that is toned, but it rarely stops right at the rim of the coin. Most of the time, a tiny bit is on the rim, and will be on the very edge of the other side. This one stops just too neatly for me--I think it has been "chemically painted" just like the expert doctors can do.