1893-s Morgan dollar

Hi, I was looking at someone's coins for sale today, including this key date Morgan dollar, the 1893-s. My guess is that it has probably been cleaned but would otherwise grade in the VG area. Anyone have a guess what it may be worth, as greysheet may be misleading with problem coins.

 

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Not sure about a cleaned coin, but VG, on numismedia.com has value at $2730.

 

That coin looks a bit scary hat that same dead color and lack of details as a Chinese fake if its not it's been so harshly cleaned it'll never look good I'd stay away and find a better one hard to tell from those pics but it doesn't look right to me

 

Here are other coins in the group the 93s was the only really rare one:

 

Well I'm certainly not an expert on Morgans, but from what I can see a lot of those coins certainly don't look right...

 

The colors wrong on all of them if their old they've been harshly cleaned with something that gives them a matte sandblasted look in my opinion just awful there's a lot of nice problem free Morgan's out there don't waste your time with these

 

I agree with you guys, something's not looking right. While not an expert, my spidey senses are starting to tingle..........

 

I don't know anything about Morgans but upon seeing those pics I was immediately like "Those look like all the fakes I've seen on other threads." For whatever that's worth.

 

I do know Morgans and I will guarantee that something's wrong with all of them is very hard to tell exactly what from the photo quality and my beat up iPhone screen but I'd say there's a 75% chance their fake and a 25% chance their real but so cleaned to have lost their numismatic value my advice run don't walk in the opposite direction on a coin like an 1893-s if your not 100% sure either wait and buy a certified one from a reputable source or hire someone knowledgable to examine it for you

 

As my name here implies, I do know Morgans. That one looks fake, at least from the pictures you provided. It isn't even a good looking coin--I would stay away from it, inasmuch as it does look like a Chinese knock-off, and if it happens to be genuine, it isn't a particularly attractive coin. Pass on it. That is just one date that you don't buy raw, unless you're a Morgan expert, as it is so often counterfeited, scrubbed to death with a harsh cleaning, and mutilated. That one should only be purchased in a slab from a reputable dealer, IMHO.


This is a real 1893s, bought a number of years ago from a reputable dealer, and in a slab. Not cheap, but at least it is genuine and reasonably attractive for that date:

 

As I'm sure I've said before and I'll say again that is one great looking 1893-s morgandude!!

 

It should be recognized this thread is a good argument for carrying a pocket digital scale with you when shopping for coins. I often lug an RWS when coin browsing. The weight of the cardboard folders in dollar size is usually around 1.52 grams. Add another few 100ths for the staples. Most fakes aren't even close on the weight. 26.73 is perfect weight for a Morgan (sometimes in PF we see a little bit more). Anything less than a reading of 25 on a F or AG, move on.

 

A "picker" style company is soliciting offers for those coins, that was the rarest of the group, hence the question. It was mixed together with the bulky collection including mint and proof sets, etc., going back quite a while. Probably polished or cleaned is the best guess.

 

OP,

The photos make it tougher than necessary to reasonably judge the coin based only on images, but...

1. The date position appears to be correct for the 93-S.

2. Even with the angled and in-holder image, the mintmark position looks reasonable, as does the style, considering condition and judging from what I can see. Had you been able to take a straight on shot without the glaring, the position would have been much easier to verify; unlike other dates, it is not as if there are many to compare.

3. Unfortunately, other useful identification markers cannot be seen in the photos, but this doesn't mean they are not there; even with the overall poor condition, it is likely that remnants would still have been visible.

As others have mentioned, the coin's appearance may be somewhat questionable, but were this a common date I doubt there are many who would have given it a second thought and/or have concerns with it being counterfeit. Beyond the obvious fakes, none of the little clues and/or differences one would expect to see on an altered or counterfeit example jump out. While I would not say either way based on this little evidence, and would want to examine the coin in-hand before giving an opinion, I do believe there is a fair chance that it is a genuine yet clearly problem specimen.

 

mine was also slabbed

 

That's similar to the fine on Northeast's site: https://www.northeastcoin.com/popupcontainer.jsp?cinclude=/popup/viewimage.jsp&itemKey=zi14_352080122

I took a few other pics.; I will look at them tomorrow and see if any of them are clearer.

Worth around $1000 maybe as a harshly cleaned coin?

 

it is graded vf 25 by NGC If your coin is genuine I think it would be worth more than 1000

 

Yours is much nicer than the Northeast coin.

 

little bit anyway

 

Actually, numismedia.com lists the value of a VF20 at $5630.