Just wondering if anyone could give me an idea of what this beauty is worth? Just got her from a friend who needed cash and wanna make sure I didn't make a mistake in purchasing it. Only the obverse is toned. Feedback is appreciated as I'm new to this scene. Thanks!!
Per Numismedia, an 1886-S Morgan dollar in MS63 is presently a $513 coin. Per the PCGS Price Guide, $500. (That link also shows auction results for both PCGS and NGC coins.) Per the NGC Price Guide, $625. All those prices are retail ("collector prices"), not wholesale dealer prices, and take them with the proverbial grain of salt. Judging from those white prongs, I'd say you have that in an NGC holder, yes? Straight-graded, no "details"? Nice coin. The toning is attractive but since it's only on one side, I don't know if it would add any premium or not. Really that depends on how much somebody liked it.
The obverse of the coin exhibits some signs of being a charitably graded AU, but it is not uncommon for coins with undeniable eye appeal to sometimes be given such a lift in the grading room. If the reverse looks AU, I'd be hesitant to consider it an MS63, but if the reverse looks fully choice mint state or better I think you are probably safe.
I was wondering what grade you all might give this 1886 Morgan. Please note that someone in the past had this coin "gold" plated. In hand it is much shinier than in the pictures. I suppose all the specs are from the plating. Given all that and that its monetary value (over face) is nil, and the die crack on the left wing, what would you grade its condition? ALSO, what gives with the dot under the E in UNITED? I don't see that dot on other pictures of 1886's.
This is the reverse of the first coin. Thanks!! It says 1886 S$1 so I'm assuming that means s mint but I could be wrong. Like I said, I'm new at this.
Nope, that is actually a Philadelphia minted Morgan. How you can tell the difference is in between the D and O in DOLLAR on the reverse/back of the coin, between there would be a letter S for San Francisco, D for Denver, CC for Carson City, and nothing there means Philly Mint.
Silver 1 dollar coin. The US made gold and silver 1 dollar coins back in the day, so S is used to denote silver and G is used to denote gold.
The s on the holder stands for "silver". The people who gave estimates of value did so based on it being a san francisco mint dollar, the philadelphia mint silver dollar you have is worth around $50, maybe a little bit more if someone really likes the toning.
If the s were immediately after the date it would be for san Francisco, since it's immediately preceding the denomination, it stands for silver. Idk why the TPGs do it that way, i just know that they do.
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad that I found this site. My wife and I are new to coin collecting but we really enjoy it and I'm learning a lot especially from talking to the pros here at cointalk. I really like the big silver coins such as Morgans and peace dollars so very grateful to be able to come here and learn from the best!!
For the 1886 Morgan dollar, the mint mark makes a HUGE difference in value. That's because the 1886-S is far more rare -- only 700,000 produced. By comparison, nearly 20 million (!) 1886 Morgans were produced at the Philadelphia Mint.
