I purchased a 1888-O Morgan dollar graded MS-63 by PCGS (OGH) from a small dealer around where I live and I was wondering whether or not it is solid grade. Should I try to get a specimen of a higher grade (MS-64+) or is this one acceptable since Morgans from New Orleans where notorious for having weaker strikes?
Only you can decide if you are happy with the coin or not. And even if you share pics of the coin with us and we offer opinions on the grade, you are still the only one who can decide. But if you'd like those opinions, post some pics, I'm sure you'll get some.
Sorry, I am under low light right now. I was trying to catch the light reflecting off the surface at that angle. When I tried to take the photos at a direct angle, my shadow was casted over the surface of the coin. I'll try it again.
For what it's worth, I have the same coin (1888-O) in a PCGS slab, and it's graded MS-64. Yours looks very similar to mine. Yours does have more bag marks (surface dings) than mine, though.
Looks like an average strike to me (for New Orleans). Lack of detail on the hair over the ear, breast feathers moderately defined. You could certainly do worse.
That's a pretty average strike for that year. The 1888-O was a year were there was a very wide range of strike quality...you can find nicely struck coins if you search around a bit and if the dealer knows anything about the coin they shouldn't carry a huge premium. I think it's a nice piece. Contrary to popular belief, all New Orleans minted Morgan's do not have bad strikes and some years even good strikes were the norm. The link in my signature is to an article I wrote here several years ago about O mint Morgan's and strike quality. Check it out.
Average strike. Nice looking coin. Could easily have been a 64 in a non-rattler, as all of those were graded very toughly. Why bother getting rid of nice 63 for a 64? Doesn't make sense from a value standpoint.
Well, I like the coin, and I think it could easily make 64 on a re-grade, but I would just keep it in the OGH.
The subject of weak strikes from the New Orleans mint, once again, came up for discussion yesterday on the NGC forums......... http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7156361&gonew=1#UNREAD Roger Burdette, aka RWB, pointed out that the poor results from New Orleans was due to improper annealing of the planchets. Chris
Only you and your budget can determine if you want a better grade. I pulled these numbers of the NGC census page for the 1880-O (prices are from NGC site as well): 1988-O: MS63: 7982 graded, retail: $79.20 MS64: 9338 graded, retail: $108.00 MS65: 1345 graded, retail: $640.00 MS66: 45 graded, retail: $2090.00 MS63: 1 graded, retail: $12,500.00 Now you have an idea of the price jumps between grades and you can determine what fits your budget. Eveyone's is different. The most important thing is to buy the coins you like!
