This morgan is on eBay and I am wondering if I should go for it. It looks really deep, but I have never bought a DMPL Morgan and it is raw, do you have any concerns? What would you pay for it? Should I buy it at all?
I'm wondering if this isn't one of those coins that was helped along to be a DMPL. Is it in a slab? If it's not this should be the first indicator. Either way I'd bet that it doesn't look like that in hand.. that contrast is waaay off.
If it was, they did a heck of a good job of making it look like a real one - regarding the frost anyway. It's pretty tough to artificially frost a coin and then make it look like it has frost breaks. I agree 100%. Those pics had a lot of help. Personally, I think the obv is too cloudy to make DMPL - assuming it hasn't been messed with. And ya know Matt, for years people on the forums (not just this one) used to tell me I was nuts - that you couldn't add frost to a coin. So it's a joy to me now a days to see others who know it can be done edit - a coin not being in a slab doesn't bother me much. But then that's cause I'm one of those people who have never sent one in to be slabbed in my life. And I know there are plenty of others just like me.
The contrast in the pics does look off, but nothing stands out making me thing the coin has been doctored. The 1881-O isn't rare in PL/DPL, it's actually pretty common. Bowers and Wayne Miller both state that the biggest problem with PL '81-O's is bag marks, and I think this coin is no exception. Right now at $188 the coin is going for more than a 62DPL graded coin would go for, so for it to be worth the risk it would have to grade a 63DPL. From just those pics I'm not too sure if it would make 63.
It's downright impossible to judge whether a coin is DMPL or not from photos, and I wouldn't want to be guessing when you consider what the value of the coin would be in MS64DMPL. You're talking about a $1500+ difference between DMPL and a normal MS64. Your best bet would be to look for one at coin shows where you can see it in-hand or buy one already slabbed. Chris
It's most commonly done with Proofs from the '50s and '60s, trying to make them into cameos. But a few try it with Morgans too. But as I mentioned, frost breaks on Morgans are typically an indicator that the coin hasn't been messed with. Not saying it can't be done, just that it would be pretty unusual.
