I recently purchased a toned Morgan and I'm trying to decide whether I want to keep it or not. This is a really interesting one to me. It's graded a MS-64 in an old, thick NGC slab. The obverse toning is very dark when you look at it straight on. It has a bluish-green tint across the whole face of it with a few bear blotches like someone tried removing the toning. The bear spot on the cheek has some lines in it like a finger print but it really doesn't look like a finger print. There is slight pink toning along the top that blends in well, all along "Pluribus." It has cartwheel luster around the whole thing. Then on the reverse, it looks like a normal, blast white Morgan with great luster. Except there's a light rust colored ring around the edge. It is barely noticeable at the top but gets thicker on the sides and bottom. It has some real nice blue in it on the bottom half. And it's very spotty. Very small spots that didn't tone mixed in on this edge. First off, if I removed this from the holder and re-submitted it, I would not bet money that it would make it back into a slab. This has really weird toning and I'm surprised it slabbed. It's not a wild, bright rainbow toner or anything close. It's actually an ugly duckling when looked at straight on. So I don't know what anybody would have had to gain?? The luster is still present on both sides. But then the other thing that bothers me is the hologram on the back of the slab. It is all torn up and I have no idea how this could be. There's no edge to it. You can't scrape it off with a thumb nail. Why would this hologram be all screwed up? And where did the pieces go? I looked for evidence of the slab being tampered with and couldn't find any. It looks normal. I don't think this toning could have been done while in the slab. I did look up the serial # on NGC's website and it did match what it was but no picture of course. Too old. I'll do my best to get pics of this after dinner. In the mean time, could somebody help me out with the hologram question? If we can agree that this is NT, I definitely will keep it. Fortunately, this is not an expensive one but I can return it if you guys think there's been any funny business with it. I just don't know what would cause it to tone like this naturally. Both sides were not affected equally. They're not similar at all. Which can be good. But this one is weird and I am stumped. It is one of my candidates for re-holder.
Pics Ok, these are pics I just took. The white balance is set so this shows the colors very accurately. Notice the blotch around B-U-S here at the top: Notice the blotch under and around the M in Unum: Here is the torn up hologram. How does this happen when it is practically part of the plastic itself? I have seen others that looked like this. I've often wondered what causes this:
The originality of the toning does not concern me at all, however the eye appeal does concern me. This is one of those toned coins that has an individual character that will appeal to some collectors and be hated by others. I will not judge the coin without seeing it in person, but from the photos, I am not a fan. The hologram has a very simple answer. The coin was in an auction and the auction sticker was placed over the hologram. When the auction sticker was removed, the hologram came off with it. I have a number of coins with this problem. It is very common and not a big deal at all. I really don't think the coin needs to be re-holdered.
For me it would come down to one of two choices: 1. I like the coin and will keep it as is, OR 2. I don't like the coin and will sell it and use the money to get one I DO like. I would not consider reholdering it.
My opinion isn't much different than anybody else's so far. I'd say the coin is correctly graded, I'd say the coin will grade the same if re-submitted. Your only real question IMO is if it is worth the cost to you for new slab.
I talked with NGC today and that's what they thought as well. Dealers put stickers on them too sometimes. It makes total sense now. I thought maybe it was on the inside of the slab because it's so thin, you can't feel an edge. The re-holder fee would be only $5 or $10 for scratch resistant. That's not much to me if I'm sending in others anyway. I might wait a while and see if I have any more candidates as time goes one. I'm going to keep it. I've got less than $80 in it so it wasn't a major investment to me for a medium grade coin with unique toning such as this. The eye appeal isn't that great but I like this one. I appreciate everyone's honest replies. I know a lot of people probably would not like this one.
I thinking the toning looks fine. NT IMO. If you like the coin good, keep it. If not send it back. I will say I learned something. I have old NGC slabs with the hologram missing. Always wondered why. Now I know.
Its an 1804 O It wasnt worth slabbing in the first place Another 10 bucks to re-holder is good money after bad
Out of a slab, people would probably think it was AT. This one was worth being in a slab. Re-holder fees are about the equivalent of getting my car washed. I wouldn't be doing it to make a profit. It'd just be paying for something I wanted done for the sake of uniformity.
