Hi! Working on the Morgan series and have this raw 1895-O on hand. Just wanted some second opinions on it before I consider pulling the trigger on it. I have read that the 1895-O is one of the hardest to find in good condition. I am trying to avoid cleaned examples and am not quite sure about this one yet. It looks like an AU but think the photos shows a lot of glare/shine. Appreciate any comments whatsoever. Thanks!
It looks like a lot of haloing around the devices. I'm thinking it's cleaned possibly polished by the look of the images.
For sure it's been cleaned. Shows reflectivity in the fields but lacks original mint luster. It has the 'overdipped' look to it.
Here is a photo update...seller says it has a faint grey mint luster that the photo wasn’t able to capture. And wasn’t able to see those charcteristically matt white areas usually seen when cleaned. Not sure if the updated photos are helping me much.
I have a Morgan that looks just like that, it's not an 1895 O, however. I believe yours is polished. Definitely artificial shine.
Thanks for all feedback! Looks like the feedback is unequivocally here...and confirming my suspicions. Reading Q. David Bowers Expert Guide; who says he wouldn't pay half the current market price for an "ugly" coin or one he wouldn't find attractive. So...how low would the ask price for this be for you to jump on it?
Low enough that I could be assured to make money when I inevitably resell it. Polished is as bad as it gets for surface conditions. I'd hands down prefer damage, graffiti, or holed coins that had original surfaces.
I've been in your situation many times in my early collecting days and bought inferior coins at cheap prices to fill holes. I heard all the advice about buying problem free coins, but I had to fill the hole, and besides, I got them for a good price. In hindsight, I wish I would have held out and bought problem free coins. Did that with an SLQ set and even though it took a while to complete, I'm glad I bought nice coins. My (strong) recommendation is to hold out for a problem free example. You'll be glad you did.
Polished like a mofo. Possibly even counterfeit? Something looks off with the neck area (to me)? If you need a hole filler & don't want to spend beaucoup $? eBay has plenty of 20s and 30s running from 250-350$.