Hi All, This is kind of a silly stupid question but I had this morgan in my sell for melt pile, and after reading about lowball collecting today I thought "Hmm - that one at home looks pretty close to Poor 01 quality, maybe someone would actually want it vs going to the melt bin. ANyhow, I get home to check it out and like a few other "melt" morgans it was covered in what I thought was PVC residue, but it was like black and tar like - and my hands felt disgusting after touching it - So I did a acetone soak and gently rolled a Q Tip across it, and it started coming off but now the coin under is like shiny. Not like proof shiny but it looks good - Like someone polished it 40 years ago and covered it with goo to protect it.. haha The history of this is my grandma started hoarding silver change in the late 60s / early 70s, and she must have gotten this in change and kept it. It has a sincere 70 years of circulating look to it. What do you think? What could that stuff have been?
No idea, but you sure are right that someone polished the heck outta that piece. It is nowhere near PO-01 yet (I'd grade it G-06 details now), but if you carry it in your pocket for a few months you might be able to wear it down a bit. That should erase most of the hairlines, and will probably help to restore a semi-natural patina.
My grandma - who these are from - died about 10 years ago and I only got this box in the last 6 months, so its been fun to go through but man, I wish she was here (for many reasons, not just this) to answer so many questions about what I'm finding. She had a mind like a trap up until the very end. I like your idea about just carrying it in my pocket for a few months. Maybe Ill post the progress!
Evidence of a 'rub-o-dub' but who cares? It came from Grandmother.........the coin is priceless.......
Yes agree with somewhere in the G-04/06 details area. Also agree have to keep grandmas coin and pass it down one day.
She actually left about a dozen Morgans ranging from MS to this - Amongst other stuff - - I actually kind of like the idea of this becoming a pocket piece - Kind of a fun connection to her - Plus with my raging fidgetiness might be fun to play with.... Like a 117 year old fidget spinner
Its funny as Im sitting here with it on my desk I keep fiddling with it. Itll do fine in my pocket for a bit I dont feel an attachment to them as much, since she wasnt a collector, just threw them in a case. However there were some 1850s large cents (2 of them) that I THINK were her dads, and those I treasure, even though unsure of the story (as I doubt those were circulation finds in the 1970s)
Believe it or not, there is something about a really worn F01 to Ag morgans that are very appealing. First off, to get a grade of 01 or 02 is very rare especially if it doesnt get put in a body bag or get the "details" grade. There is a fair amount of collectors out there that are willing to pay a nice premium for those morgans with the lowest of grades for lowball sets. If you think about getting a grade of 01 or 02, thats like getting a super high grade morgan and some will go for several hundreds of dollars. I put together a lowball set of Carson City morgans with grades ranging from 02 to 04. Finding them was extremely difficult and prices ranged from 100 to 500 dollars for them. The thought of lower the grade the lower the price but when you get beyond an 03 and lower the price does seem to start going up because they are very rare. Lowball morgans are very cool as you have to wonder how many hands they passed through and what they were used for in soending.
