The girlfriend and I picked these up today. They were supposedly graded by NGC around twenty years ago. Going by their six digit serial numbers I think it may be true.
79s is MS 65. 81s is MS 64. 81s is a date that is graded very severely by TPGs, as it is a strong strike, and so many nice ones exist.
The date and mint. That is an ultra common date, and so many are available in spectacular condition. In order to be a 66, it would have to be near perfect to be graded that high by TPGs. They see so many 1879s, 1880s, 1881s, and 1882s coins, that they tend to be tough on those dates.
I'm well aware of that, been into morgans for years. still what's keeping that coin back? where are the marks or problems? they do grade some 66 & 67.
The bag marks on the cheek--there are a few "long ones," and for that date, it had better not have any big bag marks for a 66 or higher.
Not 'into' morgans too much, but will firmly venture 65's across the board. I'd be surprised if any were below that.
Both are graded 64. The girl got the 1881 cause she liked the color. I got the 1879 because i also thought it was closer to a 65 myself. But at the same time it does have a small bag mark on the upper cheek and I'm one of those people that believes a gem coin shouldn't have marks in the focal areas. And it is kinda neat having a 600k serial number.
