GTG: 1902-O Morgan

I know, another common date Morgan, but hey they are certainly fun. Plus this one is easy on the eye's. It just arrived today in the mail. It was marked as shipped on Friday where it left Georgia and arrived at my home in Washington State on Monday. Crap my pay stubs take that long just to go across town!! Needless to say I was pretty happy getting this so fast.

 

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64+wished a couple of my 02 O's looked that good

 

+1

 

MS-62

 

63

 

MS64 and a pretty one at that with a filled 2 to boot!

 

Agree with Dave.

 

It's in MS63-62 condition, but of course you're going to be very hard-pressed to find another one that looks like this. For the "easy-come, easy-go," as they say, this is an easy MS64 for the money, the market, that's how I see it. The 2 is chipped off at the end, like Dave said. Overall, just a beautiful coin. You can't go wrong with something like this.

 

63, but the eye appeal bumps it up to 64.

 

63+

 

The reverse could go as high as MS65 with very nice surfaces, luster, and eye appeal, but the obverse is going to hold the grade of this coin back. The luster looks less, the toning has too many breaks (especially in left field), and the surfaces are between MS62/63. I know most of the people in this thread really like this coin but I have never been a really big fan of the orange & blue peripheral toning. So many dipped & retoned coins bear that color scheme that I would rather avoid it in the Morgan series. My grade for this coin is MS63.

 

64

 

I agree that the coin has almost certainly been dipped and retoned, but I think that can still sometimes be an attractive coin, as here.

My grades:

Strike: 64. This is actually a pretty decent strike for a 20th century O.

Luster: 65. The luster appears strong on this, despite the dip. It looks to be more of the creamier sort, rather than the flashy type that is really highly prized, but i like it.

Eye Appeal: 65. While Lehigh is correct that this has been dipped and retoned, I think the toning is attractive. Blue is always a popular color, and people will tend to pay a premium for it. Someone striving for *absolute originality in all things* will avoid this coin, but I like it.

Contact marks: 62/66. And this is what is going to kill the grade on this coin. That reverse is nearly flawless. Its beautiful. But that obverse is beat to hell. The cheek obviously has quite a lot of contact, but there are some pretty serious dings hidden in the toning there as well.

All this comes out to a 63 for me. I don't think it gets a star, but I wouldn't be surprised with a plus. The toning, and the strength of the reverse brings it up a bit. All told, nice coin.

 

Some great feedback in here. I agree that the obverse is certainly what would be holding back the grade. The reverse is spectacular in hand. The luster on the obverse is very nice, it's dang hard to capture in an image without glare disrupting the image.

@Lehigh96 are the breaks in the toning you are referring to in the left field the dark area at the M of UNUM? If so, that is due to the luster. The color around UNU and the lower stars is consistent all the way through that entire left field.

This one would for sure be much easier to photograph outside of the holder.

Here's another shot with slightly different lighting to show the left field.

 

I can't speak for him, of course, but I'm fairly certain he's referring to the streaky white spots on her cheek and neck, and the field in front of her face. These white spots are breaks in the toning, and are unattractive.

 

Yeah, I had a dyslexic moment. You're right.

 

Here is the reveal. It is in an older NGC Soap Bar holder. Which is a big cause of a lot of the toning on this coin. This is one of those coins that don't photograph well in their holders. A lot of the luster on the obverse appears muted compared to how it actually looks in hand. I'm pretty happy with it and was pleasantly surprised to see it in hand considering the sellers images.

 

Sweet coin Justin

 

Hey man! You NEVER give the reveal in less than 24 hour!! I didnt get to play.
With that said i woulda been at 63 since i could tell it was an early NGC by the toning, especially @ the top obverse .
Nice O mint beauty !!

 

Sorry Man, it's been one of those days where my brain is all over the place.