Help with grade on a Morgan, pls.

There is a Morgan in My Father's Collection that has me a bit baffled.

The fields are very clean, free of scratches and bag marks and the cheek is smooth with only the black discoloration. I would think that leads me to some sort of MS condition, but looking at PCGS photo grade, the fields don't have any reflectivity. That makes me think lower than AU50.

I guess I am not understanding the division between circulated coins and UNC. The MS coins seem to have many scratches but then down the grade the higher circulated coins don't have as much scratching.

Please, any opinions on this Morgan?

 

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The color really doesn't sit right with me. Perhaps whizzed, dipped, and retoned? Had I not known the story behind your father's collection over the years, I'd be tempted to even say the coin is counterfeit. At the very least, it's been altered at one point and time, and perhaps stored incorrectly.

At any rate, I'll assume it's genuine. There certainly is some wear here and there (e.g. face, breast, wreath), but the presence of some (but broken) luster, and the details present in the hair and wing and tail feathers would warrant an AU50 in my book.

The thread in my signature line may help you in grading Morgans in the future, though I do like using Photograde as well.

I'll let someone more eloquent and knowledgeable than me explain how to bridge that gap between AU to MS.

 

AU

 

+1

 

With the discoloration and the wear I'm more at XF-45.

 

+1

 

XF-AU

 

AU50, but possibly messed with.

 

imho, i would say xf-40...i usually go by breast feathers, and cheek, and hair above ear..

 

As @tmoneyeagles has already stated, "The color really doesn't sit right with me." and my first impression was it was a possible fake, but I have very little experience with grading Morgans.

 

I had the exact same thoughts about the color, surface, wear, and tone. Without the weight, a magnet test, or at least the coin in hand I'm on fence with this one...

 

Wow. Thanks for all the varied replies. I am intending on going to the FUN show in FL in July, virus permitting. I have a bunch of coins that need grading by PCGS, and I will let them see this Morgan and get their impression of it. I know it's probably not worth grading. The first thing that did strike me as well was the color. Hopefully, they will offer up an opinion on it. Thx to all!

 

It's definitely not worth being certified.

 

I picked up a frosty AU 21-P from my local coin shop I few mos.back for $18...

 

One thing the OP mentioned was not knowing the difference between circulated and Uncirculated. It's a good question, and something I've wondered about. Anyone?

 

The details are AU or better. Something has happened to to surface. Looks like it's been soaked (Not dipped... soaked) in Tarn-x. Worth melt value.

 

Thank you.

Can someone tell me how to find melt values of coins? I found it years ago, but I forgot how it was done. Thx

 

Get a Red Book. Look at each silver or gold coin type to find the ounces or fractions thereof of the previous metal, multiple that times the current spot price of the metal involved and the result will be the melt value of the coin.

 

But you also have to pay a premium below melt...if you sell silver eagles, for instance, you get paid under spot...the same goes for gold or anything else when you go to sell it. You can get melt or better if you don't sell to a dealer.

 

Here is a calculator that does what Mike Thorne is outlining for you: www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_coin_calculator.html