I would give it AU58 for the obverse because of what appear to be scratches and a rim nick and some bag marks on Liberties cheek. MS60 for the reverse. As for the cleaning, I cant really tell a lot so I'll let someone else go into that area. BTW, Welcome to the forum!!!
The coin is definitely not cleaned. Maybe rubbed once or twice, but certainly not cleaned. As for the grade I would give it an AU-58. The Morgan dollar does show signs of light wear. The coin is worth about $30
I'm always interested in improving my skills, so 'd be interested in your diagnostics, since I see no signs of harsh cleaning, or even recent gentle cleaning.
The quantity of striations and scratches in the fields do not look like contact marks from normal circulation to me. The oxidation also looks like it's recently started to tone again covering up even more of the cleaning marks. Just my opinion....
Thanks for the answers... Thanks for the answers... "The coin is definitely not cleaned." -> I can't believe it isn't cleaned. It must be cleaned, because it's 118 years old and these kinds of coins are usually almost black toned. I live in Europe and silver coins here don't look like new, if they are more than 100 years old... + By the way is this coin really AU-58 ??? (almost uncirculated) with those sratches, black spots and that one "rim nick", i thought that this coin was only VF. I bought this coin with 20 € (45$). Hard to tell, if I made a good deal.
uncleaned morgans It's amazing how many untoned morgans are out there. many spent most of thier lives in bags inside vaults so it is not uncommon to see blast white uncleaned morgan dollars.
AU-53 details, lightly tampered with IMO. I say tampered with because although this coin doesn't show typical signs of cleaning, something does not look right to me. The amount of chatter in the fields on the obverse, especially in the field to the left of Liberty's head and neck, is more than I imagine the coin would acquire through normal circulation. Yet, while the obverse has an abnormal amount of chatter in my opinion, the reverse shows hardly any scratches. Also, there is a major contrast between the color of the fields and devices. Normally, a cleaned coin will have dark devices and light fields, but yours appears to have the opposite.
This one doesn't look cleaned (in a detrimental way) to me and I agree with the AU grade, though I would say 55. However the "odd" coloring that you are seeing is evidence that the coin is likely original. The color on the coin is in the first touched parts of the coin and they have toned slightly more than the protected areas, what you are describing is common on more heavily circulated coins, but not true on this one. As for value, I'd say it's a $15-$20 coin and that the op likely overpaid for it since $45 is UNC money.
I'd say AU50, the coin has obvious wear on all of the high points of both obverse & reverse. As for the cleaning - guess it dpends on how you define cleaning. I'd say the coin was dipped once too many times in years past due to the lack of luster for a coin with AU details. But harsh cleaning - I sure don't see it.
Welcome to the forum. Normally I don't think the dings and scratches don't have much to do with below UNC grades, but sure have been wrong before. I go about AU. Can't tell if there is cleaning though, doesn't look it to me. Still, a nice coin. Welcome again to the forum, and have fun! Phoenix
