Acy chance of getting opinions on the grade of this Morgan. I got this one from the National Mint, so if you think it was dipped, speak up. Inthe real world it is very bright, but no more so than many of my other Morgans, even the slabbed ones. Ruben
AU-55 to AU58 weakly struck. It looks kind of lackluster, which would indicate over-dipping, but maybe it is just the picture. Charlie
I think it has a bit too much wear both obv & rev to make AU - I'd say XF45. As for it being dipped - the vast majority of Morgans have been dipped. And that includes those slabbed by the TPG's - all of them.
Morgan factoid: This is the single-highest pre-1921 mintage (over 21M) in the series. I'd agree with GDJMSP with one caveat. I know from frustrating personal experience that it's difficult to accurately picture the eagle's breast feathers - if the detail shown in the pics is correct, it's XF45 territory. If there's more feather detail than shown, especially in today's rabid Morgan market, it'd reach AU50. Here's one for comparison from my collection which (IMO) grades MS - note the fairly weak strike near the ear. The picture doesn't accurately show the breast.
The detail of the reverse is correct in the image. Its the luster and whiteness of the coin which has been more or less lost. Now that I'm more familiar with the coin thanks to this forum and the scanning I've done, I can see to lack of detail in the breast feathers. The front of the coin is a little harder to judge. Perhaps the hair locks over the ears. I also don't know if I'm looking at wear of a coin weakly struck when the breast feathers aren't sharp. Or maybe the wear is in the coin die. The scanner has no trouble with details. Its the luster and brightness I generally loose. I need to pin the brightness and contrast of the scan to max to achive the brightness and luster. Ruben
There are people that can dip coins and experts not know it....but the reason they don't is because back in the 1800's and such cleaning was thought of as a GOOD thing not as a bad thing as it is now....so many of the coins were dipped and such....therefor as long as the coin is not cleaned or dipped harshly they will grade it. Speedy
Tell ya what Ruben, here's a little secret about how to pick up a coin's luster with a scanner :secret: Get yourself a small, thin piece of clear glass - no scratches. About 4 inches square will work just fine. Then when you want to scan a coin - take anything about 1/4 inch thick. Place it on the scanner bed. Sit just the edge of the piece of glass on this object so that it sits at a slight angle to the scanner bed. Place the coin you want to scan on the piece of glass - close the lid and do your scan. I think you'll be surprised at the results By the way - this little trick also allows a scanner to pick up color (toning) quite well.
Yes - that's the idea. Picking up luster in a pic requires an angle - the same way you can see the cartwheel effect when you turn a coin in the light. It's the angle of the light that allows the luster to bloom :smile That's why scanners never show luster - the pic is taken from directly straight on. Just that little bit of an angle creates a whole new world !! Give it a try - you'll be glad you did
GDJMSP, you are the man. Here's the coin I posted above. Flat scan: Angled scan, slightly adjusted for brightness: I used the glass from a picture frame, something we all should have laying around. I am astonished at the result. I note a little elongation of the image, but that's nothing I can't handle in Photoshop.
