I was looking through the old Morgan collection,as I occasionally do on those rainy days,despairing at all of the nicks,dings and bagmarks that cover even the most brilliant ones,when I came across this '21-D.I remember thinking it was pretty when I bought it but never really looked closely at it until today.Other than the most microscopic mini marks,it is as close to perfect as I have seen.
No doubt, it is a nice one :thumb: But don't overlook the hit on the upper edge of the eagle's left wing. That one would stop it from being a gem
Doug,must be the lighting..there is no trace of a hit on the feathers even under a loupe.There are some miniscule abrasions on the fields.The coin is still BU with cartwheeling,not whizzed.Here are some pics with normal lighting that show the coin as it really looks. I would really appreciate some grade guesses.
I must admit my first thought from the pictures was cleaned. The last set of photos have me going either way, unsure...Mike
Here's a bigger blow up of the Obv. if that helps. The two dark areas behind her eye and on forehead are just shadows,not damage but the little things under her lip & bridge of nose ARE very light abrasions. How would you grade it?
I could have sworn this coin is cleaned, but there are subtle differences between the old Morgans and the 21 version. I'm not that familiar with the new Morgan. But those hair lines seem to fat and dull, as if its been flattened or cleaned. The dark shadows seem too deep. But I'm a lousey grader and I'm usually completely wrong. Ruben
Thanks for the input mr.b, I added closeup of the hair to the previous post.I think the "grayish" photos I sometimes take,to emphasize the strike,might have had the opposite effect in this case.Under high magnification,there is no wear on the coin. I don't want this to become the most photographed coin in Forum history so no more..promise.but more grading responses are WELCOME.thanx
You are correct about that. Flat strikes are very common in this year. They were more worried about getting all the coins minted rather than producing a quality product -- although this is less so for the Philadelphia-minted coins than those produced in San Francisco or Denver. Incidentally, this is also the same reason why there are so many VAMs for the 1921 Morgans. FWIW, I collect VAMs of 1921-D Morgans, so I am at least passingly familiar with the date, and I stick by my original assessment that this coin has been cleaned. My assessment had nothing at all do do with strike and had everything to do with luster. For the record, I hope I am wrong. Take care....Mike
Nice Coin Mikjo0! Keep that one Forever! Well for the grade this Morgan would go for PF-60.Maybe a little higher.The light from the camera is hiding the true color of the coin.So I may not be right,but definitely in the proofs. B12
Thanks everyone,most of my photos here are a bit deceptive when it comes to lustre,but I think if you look at the small one of the reverse above,you'll see what it looks like in hand,full cartwheel effect.The only way I could get it to show up was to pull back and hold the lights up high above it.That being said,it probably was dipped at some point in it's life.That's why I said "almost" Happy New Year!
This is what I saw in the first pic - The other pics don't show a thing in that area. Gradewise, it's hard to say based on the pics you have posted. As you noted the coin has probably been dipped and it appears a bit washed out - but that could be the pics. And since grade depends a good deal on luster - it's just hard to say. I will say the coin appears pretty much mark free and it does have a good strike. Based on that I'd say 65. But a lack of luster could easily drop it to 63.
