1885 O Morgan - worth grading? No Cleaning?

Another Morgan from the bottom of the box. This seems so clean and has the "cartwheel luster" when I hold it up in the light. Seems like this one is in really nice shape. hard to take good photos, but I'll attach what I have. Is this a common year? Is it worth having this one graded officially? The scrape on the cheek is like a flat scrape from a blade or something. so hard to capture in photos...

 

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Definitely nice. I’d give it a 63, due to distracting cheek bag marks. Not familiar with values though

 

The 83O, 84O, & 85O are some of the most common Morgans in uncirculated grades. This one might drop to AU58...the last pic seems to show a good bit of rub on the eagle's breast. Not worth certification costs.

 

Nice coin, but not worth the money certifying it. It is MS62-63, and a common date. A $70-75 coin.

 

Those are "luster grazes" - contact between the high points of coins (or, it could be an incomplete strike). This does not appear to be rub, which would appear as a dull or flat area, not a shiny area.

Either way, I agree, this is a low grade/value coin and not worth submitting. I'd probably put it at 63 tops, but wouldn't be opposed to a 62 grade.

 

61, not worth grading. The big scuff on the cheek is probably in the worst place possible for this coin.

 

61/62 not worth grading.

 

62 and not worth grading. Very common in uncirculated

 

It might be nice and have some color but it wouldn't be worth the cost to have her graded.

 

I'll chime in 63 also, 60-61's are totally scratched everywhere. FYI PCGS has a series of nice grading videos on youtube, this one goes over Morgans.

This one goes into full bands on dimes, and other hard to grade like face issues on standing liberty quarters;

 

Thanks for showing the youtube Coin Grading videos. Don't do youtube much, so I wouldn't have even tried to see what was out there. Now I will. Again, thanks.

 

In that condition the Red Book value is less than it would cost you to TPG the coin. I would not do it! Good luck

 

Welcome to CT @DCG. The two most popular TPG (Third Party Grader) tend to put a lot of the eye appeal grading on the cheek, one of the obverse visual focal points, so the mark on your coin would probably drag the grade down, and as others have already stated, not worth the cost of having it graded IMO.

 

I agree with the group. I'm in the 62-63 range but not worth sending in for grading unless you got it for next to nothing. NGC values this coin in 63 at $75.00. Figure grading costs, including shipping and insurance at $45-$50. So if you paid more then $25.00 for it, you'll be upside down.

From NGC:
The New Orleans Mint struck over 9 million Morgan Dollars in 1885. However, many of those did not circulate, but instead sat in Treasury vaults until the 1960's. Many uncirculated bags were released in the 1960's, making this issue one of the most common in high grade. In fact, NGC has graded over 30,000 examples in gem or higher! (10/2016)

 

waste of money grading it

 

The big scrape on the cheek takes it below MS-63. My grade would be MS-61 tops. That mark is really distracting, and MS-63 graded coins should not have anything that is distracting on the focal points.

 

Some of the best pics I have seen of a coin. You did good. Don't mess with sending it in though.

 

I agree with @johnmilton , it could easily be a '63; but with that huge gash as well as that nick on the nose I'd give it an MS61. Some TPGs might even give it a details grade depending on how distracting the mark is in hand.

 

I was hoping to ask the same questions on a couple of mine.

Should I start a new thread, or contribute here?

A couple examples.

 

I think you'd get better help starting your own thread for those coins.

Anyways, those three morgans are very nice, especially the last one.