GTG: 1880-S Morgan Dollar

64PL

 

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I wonder if people even bother reading others’ responses to GTGs? How is anybody supposed to learn anything, if they do not read comments from other posters? I find that a lot of what I have learned over the years posting here is reading other poster’s comments, and taking them into consideration, before posting. In other words, read the thread, and don’t just knee-jerk post.

 

64DMPL

 

They were just made too perfect back then in that Mint. Those mirrors look pretty deep to me, too. It's all a matter of how you strike the compromises on these. I can see a market grade anywhere between 63 and 65, so, give the old girl MS64DMPL.

 

64PL

 

I never read others post before I make my post. I thought that was the whole idea, but I do go back and read what others have posted.

 

On GTG threads, I honestly try to grade the coin before reading the rest of the thread to avoid my opinion being influenced. But, then I go back to see what others think and I look forward to seeing the actual result to see how I did and often learn something.

A couple days ago...on a $5 gold piece, I let other people influence me. I was going to say AU53 but when I saw a bunch of MS posts I thought I was being too harsh. Knowing there was some wear I went AU55...but I was AU53. LOL.

It is fun to post frosted Morgan's though. It's interesting to see what people think are hits on them.

 

Originally, I thought it was more beneficial to post one’s opinion in isolation. After spending a lot of time thinking about that, I rejected that notion, as all it would be is a sheer guess of a picture, not necessarily a coin. As such, there are always guesses that are all over the place, and some show complete ignorance of the coin, or the series. Being that I have been big on education of all kinds, and in this case numismatic education, I think a pure “guessing game” is not particularly productive. With Morgans, I will give my opinions in isolation, inasmuch as I consider myself pretty well informed on the series. Therefore, in GTGs, I am rarely more than one grade off in either direction, and usually right on, but that is with Morgans.

With series that I do not know that well, or at all (e.g Copper coinage), I read other guesses and comments so as to learn. It makes it more productive, as I strongly feel we should be learning from each other. If we don’t use that as an opportunity to share knowledge, it is really nothing more than a guessing game. More often, the rationale for the grade is far more important than the grade, itself. That is why I try to break my guess down into components, such as strike, surface preservation, eye appeal, distinguishing marks, etc. otherwise a grade guess is nothing more than a numismatic dartboard, in my opinion.

 

I completely agree with what you are saying. One thing I have learned as I have studied coins more and more is that grading (for the most part) is the same across the various series (I will admit, the incuse Indian golds still allude me). Yes, high spots which are first to wear are dependent on the design...but what that looks like should be the same. So, I try and grade the coins without others influencing me...but I also try and explain what I am seeing rather than just say "MS66" and leave it at that.

Once I have made my post...then I go back and read the whole thread to see if I missed anything or if I am in line with what others think.

But personally, I like to try and grade it using my own knowledge and skill. I use each GTG thread as a test...but like when I was in school, I always went back and looked at old tests to see where my strengths and weaknesses are and fill in the gaps.

But, that's how I try and do it.

 

OK, so here is the reveal:


In hand, this coin has booming luster, amazing mirror fields and lovely frosted devices. The strike is 100% full. It is an absolute stunner. In my opinion, it could have earned an MS65 grade. It is absolutely a DMPL, no question about that.

Photographing DMPL Morgan's is always difficult and they often look more baggy than they actually are. Highly frosted areas like the cheek often look beaten up in photos. This coin is no exception. There are no hits on the cheek of this coin, just some light characterization in the frost that picks up the light in the photos. The only real hits here are on the neck and a tiny spot on the Eagle's breast.

IMHO, this coin could have been graded MS65DMPL. It has eye appeal that greatly exceeds the MS64DMPL grade.

 

Nice coin!!!

 

I own, and have posted less spectacular 65 DMPLs. The minutes I saw this coin for sale at 63 prices, I sent the info to Richie. He was smart, and pulled the trigger. It is an amazing looking coin, and a classic DMPL. Enjoy it, dude!

 

Dave, I really appreciate the help in tracking this one down. It is an absolute stunner. These are the coins I want to collect going forward...buying a small number of nice pieces and building a collection I can be proud of rather than a large collection of lower end stuff.

It's funny. You PM'd me the info for this coin last Wednesday. I was sitting at the Portland International Airport waiting for my flight (my wife dropped me off SUPER early because she had a meeting)...and I really debated it. It was a little more money than I really wanted to spend at the time...but the coin was stunning. I decided sitting there that it was the perfect coin for my collection and I decided that I should reward myself. So...I did it. The coin was at the house when I got back from my trip and I was stunned to see it in hand.

 

thats what I guessed had it not been a 1880 s I would of thought 65 DMPL

 

Oh, for sure. 65 or even 65+. At CAC, it would be definitely a green bean, with a good chance at gold.

 

Not surprised at the grade. I had as MS 63 but possibly a 64. I put it as PL and not DMPL because picture can be misleading. The grade seems right. The early S mint dollars were almost always the best struck coins. 80-S and 81-S are two of the most common Morgan's to find in mint state. 81-S is the most common.