I recently acquired a gentleman's coin collection for an amazing price. (I almost feel like a thief!) Included in the collection, among others, was 11 Morgan dollars and a Peace dollar. Half of the Morgans are pretty worn down, but three look really good to my untrained eye. I'm posting some pictures of the one I consider to be the best and would love to have your opinion on whether it would be worth sending to be graded and slabbed. Since it's apparently a common issue (1881-S), according to the PCGS price sheet it would probably have to grade at least MS65 (maybe 64)before I recognized any value added to simply keeping the coin in an Intercept Shield 2x2. I have no plans to sell it either way, but nice to know what I've got! My lighting is horrible and these are the best pictures I can get, but if any of you who perhaps have some experience in grading could give me a ballpark, it would be appreciated. Cheers, Christian
Just SAVE your MONEY spend it WISELY or buy another coin.. http://s817.photobucket.com/home/edwinrd117/allalbums
It is very much not worth slabbing, but I will now spend a little while helping you understand why. First, the coin is probably circulated. There seem to be traces of wear on the cheek and eagle's feathers. That limits the grade to AU. However, the bigger problem is that this coin has been polished, dipped, and cleaned at sometime in its life. It also has unnattractive spotting in places (the field in front of her nose, along the edge of her nose, on her cheek, and on the eagle's breast). The dipping is evidenced by the unnatural orangey color around the edges - usually a pretty good sign the coin has been dipped and not quite rinsed properly to remove the acid. The coin will then retone in these unattractive colors. However, all these problems diminish in light of the fact that the coin appears to have been polished. Notice how the coin appears reflective in spots, most noticeable on her cheek, and the fields around the devices. This shininess is unnatural, and usually indicates some sort of harsh polishing, like a silver cleaner or baking soda. Numismatists shun coins that exhibit any of the problems your coin has. I'm sorry. Your coin is worth the silver content, which is around $14 right now.
Oh, don't be sorry. I appreciate the info. It's funny how the picture brings out what you see on the cheek as wear. You can't see it when viewing the coin in person. It does have this sort of oily residue on it though...I think that's what's making it look that way. The specs I think are from the cardboard it's currently housed in. I'd love to remove them, but don't want to touch the coin. Also, the reflectiveness is just the bad lighting I have...it's actually quite uniform in person. In either case, you've confirmed my initial thoughts. I essentially got the Morgan's for free anyway, so it's not like I'm out 100 bucks. I think what really confuses me, and the reason I wanted some second opinions, is that on the NGC site you can look through high res pictures of coins they have graded. Mine looks better than some they have at MS 64...some of which are covered in scratches and dents that mine doesn't have. On the other hand, they have some at AU55 that look better than mine. It all seems so subjective. Anyway, thanks. To the 2x2! ~Christian
Hey again... Trust me, I'm not being argumentative, I'm just trying to learn. Check out: http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/#/Morgan/Grades The example they show as an MS63 appears to have a great deal more ware on the cheek than mine does, as well as some larger scratches. Mine also shows more detail in the hair above the ear than their example. Is your assessment of the non worthiness of my example based primarily on that you think it's been cleaned? I don't know the history of it, so if it was then I understand and accept your opinion. If it's based on the ware you see, could you clarify a bit more the differences between mine and the example I link to? Thanks in advance, Christian (I feel like a proud father defending his offspring, LOL)
Glad to see someone gave a good reasonable answer - the other answers were just useless. To me the luster from the pictures looks really flat like it has been over dipped(almost a cloudy haze on your coin). I do not see the wear mentioned, but I do see the other points mentioned on cleaning. I know it can be disheartening to hear news like that and most people do get a little defensive. Again we only have pictures to go on and we can only base our comments on them. Plus comparing the picture of this coin to another, we will all see something different. Christian there is only way to be 100% sure and that is to send the coin in. But before doing that if you have a local dealer that you know and trust, then let them look at it and give you an opinion. Or save it for the next show in your area and then you can have several dealers look at it. This might save you some money. I would hate for you to spend $30 to get a genuine holder.
