I have an 1881-S Morgan that has a black smudge on it. When taking pics with the digital camera you can't really see it unless you play with the lighting. In hand it's very noticeable. It is NOT a scratch...I have looked at it carefully through a loop and it's just a blackish mark running across the coin. I want to get it graded so I want to clean the black spot off. Acetone carefully dabbed? Any tips on the best way to remove it would be appreciated. Here are some pics with the smudge, as I call it, circled.
I don't know about cleaning, but I don't think it's worth grading, unless it's a very special coin to you and you want it in a fancy slab.
the pics are taken with a digital microscope. Lots of marks show up on those pics that you don't see with the naked eye. While digital microscopes are nice, they do tend to show every little thing.
To me it appears to have been dipped in the past, and the smudge is a remnant of dark tone. Acetone would take off black marker/ink transfer, etc, but not some black tone. If you really want it graded, I would try water, isopropyl alcohol, acetone all just washing over, no swabs or such, and if it was still there, a quick diluted dip and rinse, and if it was still there, decide whether to send like that or not. Most 81-S are struck well, and it takes a high grade to really make slabbing worth it for me.
Save your money, it's not worth sending it in to be graded. An '81-S is the single most easily found in high grades Morgan there is, and they are graded to a tougher standard than any other Morgan. Besides, with the scratches on that one they'd probably put in a Genuine slab.
The cheek scratch running south from the eye is kind of tough to overlook. I would be more concerned with that than the black smudge.
It is hard to tell whether that is toning or organic debris. If it is the latter, acetone will help to remove it. If it is toning, then a light dip should do the trick, but I would leave the piece alone.
And it is common date in a lower grade. These coins are readily available even through MS67. This issue (1881-s) is only worth grading generally, in my opinion, it you reach the MS65-MS66 range or the coin has some unusual characteristic such as monster toning or DPL/DMPL/PL tendencies to it.
