1887-S Morgan

I am having some trouble with the grading of this coin. The obverse looks untouched and in MS 64, but the reverse has very very fine, single direction, hair-line scratches in the fields only. These are barely seen by the naked eye, and 10X magnification picks them up easily. At first, I thought these lines could be caused by whizzing. But on further inspection, I do not see any evidence of the coin being whizzed on the design. The soft lines go right up to the edges and then just stop. Because of this effect, I have serious doubts that whizzing or rubbing could be this accurate. My next thought is that this is proof-like reverse and regular obverse... but where did these lines come from? It does not look like metal flow lines. It looks like a very lightly whizzed surface, and the direction of the lines is all the same.






Any thoughts / theories of the lines? And if you want to give it a grade, then feel free. In my opinion, if it is uncleaned, then my grade is MS64

 

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If it is graded around MS64, it could very well be worth around 600 dollars. JMO.

 

Very nice coin, and great pics btw. I can't see anything to lead me to believe it's been cleaned, or whizzed, and I would agree with the MS64 grade. The coin has some pretty strong metal flow lines on both the obv and rev, which are common on many Morgans. I also see the lines your referring to, I believe they were caused by the polishing of the dies, which is also the reason why the reverse has slightly proof like surfaces.

If it's possible could you post close ups of the mint mark, because VAM 2 S/S variety is most common on proof like and semi proof like coins, die polish lines are also common for the VAM 2.

 

I believe that it is the S/S variety. Below is the best picture I could get of the mm, but you can easily see a line both in the upper and lower loup of the S under 5X magnification. Maybe some better eyes could see it without a glass.

What does a VAM 2 1887-S in MS64 fetch nowadays? I don't plan on selling it, now, but I'm just curious...

 

I agree with the VAM 2 designation. It's in the top 100, and it's a I-3 R-4, and from what I've seen there seems to be a slight premium. There's one on ebay now for $680 BIN or OBO.

Imo I would send it to be graded and attributed, I think it's a very solid 64.

 

Thank you :thumb:

 

I don't think it's a VAM 2 because I can't see any die-damaged denticles below the date, which is a key indicator. Very nice coin though.
Here's what you should see; http://www.vamworld.com/1887-S+VAM-2
Guy~

 

I think the damage is there, it's just not as extreme as in the example.

 

It's possible. It does look like the top of an underlying serif is in the top loop of the S. Might be worth sending in to a TPG to see.
Guy~