I picked up a stack of Morgans at a local estate/yard sale and found this 1886-S in the lot. I'm guessing a F15-VF20 coin, so nothing to write home about; but, I paid $30 a piece for the Morgans, so I am happy. For a heavily circulated coin, I think it has a nice eye appeal with some subtle toning. I'm a novice, though, so what do I know? When I looked at it with a loupe, I noticed some surface hairlines, but did not feel like it was harshly cleaned or polished. I soaked it in distilled water for a few days and then acetone, allowing it to air dry on edge as everybody suggests. This did brighten up the surface a little, but no dramatic change. When I looked at it more closely with better lighting and with a digital microscope, the hairline scratches were more prominent. I assume that all circulated coins will have a lot of hairline scratches from routine handling, and I assume most coins that people might pull out of circulation and stick away in a shoebox have been washed and cleaned to some degree. My question is would this coin be considered "cleaned" or "polished" if it were to be sold? I can spot an obviously "polished" or "harshly cleaned" coin based upon the uniformity and pattern of the scratches. If I were to sell this coin, I think I would advertise it as "gently cleaned". Curious how you experts would view this coin. Does it even matter with a heavily circulated, low value coin? I don't know any experienced coin dealers in my area, so I appreciate y'alls input. Sorry for the quality of the photos. I did the best I could.
I think she is a beautiful buck and worth the thirty dollar price. Your method of removing grime is a solid one. I think your grime removal may have exposed those hairlines and they could give a potential future buyer some pause. Not me. I happen to love working coins myself.
I don't think it's been cleaned, from your photos. On a well circulated coin a cleaned area would be an unnaturally bright patch of hairlines close together. Your coin just seems to show normal circulation and handling marks imo. If the whole coin had been polished and then retoned, it would look unnaturally bright and reflective.
All Morgan's are keepers. Your coin has good toning and is very much worth what you paid. Show us more! Thanks, and good luck.
$30 a piece is a great price! Plenty of dealers around here charge that for a VF common date Peace Dollar.
I love estate sales. Nice price! I have seen a few but they were way over priced. Figure with silver at $23 an ounce. You only paid 7 bucks there was already $23 dollars sitting on the table.
Well you must remember Morgans and all silver U.S. coins are not pure (.77344 ounces of pure silver). So if silver is sitting at $23/oz the melt value is .77344 troy ounces X $23 = $17.79 silver melt value. And remember you are starting with a coin that weighs 26.73 grams in total weight with the copper mixed in. Most people do not consider these facts.
@ptHoneyBadger Nice pickup, and your photography--except for color balance-- is of very good clarity and pose to show what you want to describe on this coin. The majority of the hairline scratches appear to be N to S, but that is because a person usually orients the coin so the the Portrait or Eagle is "upright" as it appears to the eye, even when laying flat on a table; when the coin is slid toward or away from the person (such as during a purchase transaction) grit on the surface will cause those fine hairlines to form. Even when handling the coin, grit attached to one's fingers will cause these hairline scratches to appear, but usually in random directions.
Agree, but I'm willing to pay a premium on Morgan's and nicer half dollars. I think those premiums historically have held up pretty well and hopefully will into the future. I don't generally stack culls and lower grade coins unless I can get them near spot, which is hard to do. I save those coins for an Armageddon scenario, although lead is my preferred metal for Armageddon.
Thanks. I don't have a good photo setup yet. I'm just using a USB digital microscope, which has pretty good resolution, but no color or exposure setting on the camera. I can do color and light editing on the photos to get a more realistic representation of the color, but I hate doing that for fear that I am in some way "enhancing" the photo. For these photos, I just fiddled with the ambient lights to demonstrate the toning I see with my eye. Then I had to really light it up to show the hairlines, which are hard to see with the eye and even a loupe without harsh lighting. Your explanation of the hairlines is in line with what I have always thought. I just always read so much about "polished" and "cleaned" coins that I always wonder which hairlines "bad" and which are to be expected on a circulated coin. I think I can spot the obvious polishing, whizzing, and harsh cleaning; but, I haven't looked at enough coins with an expect to pick up on more subtle cleaning marks.
