wow, since 1989, I have only found 2 Morgan dollars detecting.. One at the beach, and pretty much black. The second at my sister in laws property & her husband grabbed it out of my hand before I could even see it. Never detect there again.
Here are a few recent saltwater finds. A lot of folks don’t get to see this kind of stuff, except folks in a metal detecting club. And again, these aren’t random spots I’m hunting, they are researched sites. Marine ghost town landings is the best way I can think to put it. I called NGC this morning, and the rep said her supervisor was out. And that they would call or email me what they can glean from the graders notes. All that they saw is that it was a $1893 dollar, like the info on the body bag. I weighed it, and it’s 25.4 grams. My saltwater peace dollar is 25.7. The dime in the photo is 1.5 grams, just so you all can get an idea of the corrosion level, and silver loss. Also, random saltwater silver wash weighs 5.4 grams
If PCGS and NGC will neither conserve nor attempt to authenticate the coin, I think you’re out of luck.
One thing that strikes me as odd is the raised dot near the mintmark. It doesn't appear to be part of the crust.
It’s a spec of sand that is glued to the surface. I could scrape it off, but it leaves a even bigger spot
The best thing to do is just leave it alone. You have any detector videos? Peugeot Sound would be fun to see This time of year.
There is a downside. I have only used the NGC restoration service once. It was to remove an ugly blue colored spot from the Indian’s throat on an otherwise high grade $2.50 gold coin. I had them fix it and slab it. The whole thing worked out well, but it was not inexpensive. NGC reviews the item before they go to work. If they don’t think they can improve it, they decline to work on it. NGC has already passed on authenticating it. Is there are reason to believe that they will want to attempt a restoration? Postal rates are not cheap these days.
I don't think so. They still have to go through the normal grading procedures. That is why I suggested conservation. If NGC rejects it for conservation or can't authenticate it after conservation, you're only out a small fee. Chris
Several years ago, one of the educational channels (Discovery? A&E?) ran a story about the discovery of a maharajah's "silver fleet" in the Indian Ocean after it had been lost for centuries. Interestingly, the silver coins that came into contact with, or were close to, iron fittings or cannons from the ships became heavily encrusted in a black coating. Some of the coins actually fused together in large blocks. Conservators were able to restore some of the coins so that they could be readable. Apparently, it is not just the saltwater that affects the coins. Chris
The Puget Sound is incredibly beautiful, 12 months out of the year I have only filmed a couple of things I found. I don’t like hearing my voice, I leave that to the other guys. The best thing I did for my metal detecting hobby was to join the local metal detecting club. I want to share inspirational stories, and finds, But I’m getting a little bit of resistance, one poster on this thread even doubted the movement of the tides. I’m gonna make all the inquisitors cringe with this thought. Do you realize that it is possible to have the key date Morgan dollar, and have it in such a condition that the third-party graders won’t authenticate it? Because, that is the notion I have. Maybe I could’ve started off with a pictorial story showing the former uses of the peirs on the island I live on. There was a village of Chinese laborers, there was a village of Indians, and there was a village of settlers. The largest outdoor fish drying facility of its time was here. Old growth trees we’re on every inch of land, and every inch of land was logged. Every footboard of timber pasted through the Mills, and And every net load of fish was hauled from the boat to the dock. Every town in 1890 on the Puget Sound was a candidate for the trans continental railroad. Real estate investors pumped up the land value, and speculators had large parties for any potential investor. Sternwheelers, and other oceangoing vessel’s would dock at these peirs on a daily schedule. Anyways, it’s a very dreamy place, loaded with history. When I go hunting on the beaches at the sites, I say “all or nothing” Because I usually end up with nails and brass. Or, if I’m lucky, I will end up with one amazing coin, or nothing. A gold ring, or nothing. Not like a traditional Metal detecting site, where you start off with a couple Wheaties, maybe you get on top of a silver Roosevelt dime, and then if you’re lucky you pop out the silver half. So, for the folks who are following the thread, and trust me, a stranger on the Internet, I hope you find it entertaining and helpful, and inspiring.