1885-O Morgan Dollar - Grade It

Based on what I see on PCGS and ha.com, these are a pretty crappy issue. Full, cartwheel luster, looks better in hand than the pictures.

 

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MS66

 

64+

 

I'm at MS63.

Cheek looks to have some chatter and there is a rim issue just below the 85 on the obverse. Reverse had some decent nicks on the breast and field plus a rim ding at 10:30

 

Brest feathers quite undefined (reverse), but NO is notorious for weak stikes......an unholdered waif, I give it a '64......

 

64

 

There is an expert on NO Morgans on this forum, and he's a doctor to boot, but I'm having a 'senior moment' and can't recall him.

I'll figure it out. Stay tuned........

 

CamaoDMD.......Dat's the bloke. An authority most extraordinary.

@CamaroDMD ..he da man.

 

63. A real 63. Not a 64 like they call 63s now.

 

63

 

MS 63 Too many small dings

 

63

 

That is a very nice MS-63. The cheek is fairly smooth, but there are a few too many little ticks, and the luster is not strong, which it typical for an O Mint dollar.

 

Au58

 

LOL, thanks for the shout out.

I'm at MS63 on this one. You might get a bump to MS64 but I think there are too many hits on the cheek. I do not see any wear. O mint Morgans get a bad reputation for poor strikes but when you dive into the series you find that O mint Morgans have a far larger range of strike qualities than the other mints. There are years (like 1880) where nicely struck coins are common and there are years (like 1892) where they are almost unheard of. So...each year needs to be looked at on its own merits.

1885 is one of the years with a very wide range. Full struck examples exist and can be found if you look for them...but also very poorly stuck coins exist. I wouldn't say either is overly rare. I would put this coin in the better struck camp but certainly not fully struck. However, in my opinion, the strike is not good enough in a year where fully struck coins aren't that rare to justify a grade bump.

So, I'm at MS63 with this one.

 

AU-58 with a chance at MS-60.

 

Based on the images and Bad's description I'm at MS63

 

Hard to tell from the pics if I see wear (cap, ear, above the eye, and eagle's breast and talons), or if it's just weak strike that is typical of the O-mint Morgan. If it's wear, I'd give it an AU-53 or 55. If just weak strike, I'm in the MS-63 camp.

I'm inclined to think it's just the strike. But, I think there are just too many contact marks on the cheek, hair, and rims to get you a 64 on this one. I'll stick with MS-63 also.

 

Well the OP says it looks better in hand.....it looks quite nice until you expand it, then some marks start showing up, I'd like to see it in hand. I did miss the ding under the 5 though.

 

I was in a weird mood when I have it a 66. When are we getting the reveal?