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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SuperDave, post: 57512, member: 1892&quot;]I just acquired 1 &#039;79S Morgan which arrived looking completely lifeless on the obverse. It&#039;s a uniform gray with only a couple places (one or two hair highlights, and the field right next to the head under &quot;US&quot;) showing any luster at all. The reverse is a little more &quot;normal,&quot; showing the beginning of normal gray silver toning. Underneath that toning is some tremendous reflectivity.</p><p><br /></p><p>What the scans don&#039;t show is, there&#039;s streaking of a slightly darker shade extending inwards 1-2mm from the &quot;M&quot; in &quot;UNUM,&quot; and from a couple of the stars below it, as well as a couple on the other side between the nose and the chin. All the streaking goes the same direction, roughly from 2:00 to 8:00 on the clock.</p><p><br /></p><p>As you can see from the scans, this is a pretty nice coin otherwise.The only mark I can see on it is a 1mm scratch in the reverse field between the wing and the leaves. IMO it would be well up the MS scale if the obverse had the same PL reflectivity as the reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>Is there enough data here for someone more experienced than I to determine if this is normal toning or the result of over-dipping? I paid very little for this relatively common Morgan, and it&#039;s a prime candidate for me to learn about removing the toning, as discussed (but not endorsed <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> ) by the more knowledgeable around here.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other hand, if it&#039;s all original, this is at least an MS65 with lesser eye appeal, and I probably shouldn&#039;t mess with it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another issue is the coin having been photographically misrepresented in the auction, through the use of bright light causing the obverse to have luster which it actually lacks. This thread will help me decide on feedback for the seller.</p><p><br /></p><p>Opinions?</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://members.arstechnica.com/x/superdave/1879S_Obva.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><img src="http://members.arstechnica.com/x/superdave/1879S_Reva.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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