Woods020

Sometimes trying to figure out exactly what happened is a fools errand. The major thing to know is did it leave the mint that way, or did something happen to it after the mint? Anything that results from action after it left the mint is post mint damage (PMD). I’m fairly certain this was caused after it left the mint but we may never know exactly what happened. Once you learn the full minting process always think could this have plausibly happened during that process? If no it’s damage.

Kurt makes a great point. Top pop may be very significant or may not mean much. Take for example a recent state quarter proof. A PF 70 DCAM /UCAM will be a top pop simply because there is no higher grade, but they aren’t hard to find either. It may be one of thousands in the same grade. Also in some coins you will notice one grading company or their other skews higher on a coin grade. You may see a top pop at NGC and look at PCGS and there are several graded higher and vice versa. I’ve seen a few Kennedy half years that come to mind where there won’t be a 70 at NGC but several in PCGS slabs. They each have their own grading standards. While they are all similar you will notice some differences over time.

I’ll be honest I won’t say it’s anything for sure. There are several reasons and theories of why some coins have stripes or linear toning. I’ve read things from improper alloy mixture to roller marks with abrasive grit on them. This one just looks like some sort of contamination on the surface but I can’t say anything for sure.

Dipping is generally a different chemical than acetone. Acetone soak in and of itself won’t alter the coin. Dipping in a harsher chemical will impact the coin surfaces. If it’s a quick dip that is quickly neutralized it may be ok, but prolonged or repeated dips are evident. Simply soaking in acetone and rinsing in distilled water once removed is a non-destructive way of removing some things.

It almost looks as if it was in contact with something in storage that caused the lines. Could be some type of adhesive gunk. I wonder if you gave it an acetone soak if they would disappear.

NGC and PCGS have Cert verification apps for your phone. You can scan the barcode if you have the coin in hand or type the information in from an online listing. Attached is an example at NGC. This one is simple because they have added the icon to state top pop. But you also see where it says population. A top pop will have none graded higher. Also note this is only applicable to that grading service. There may very well be one graded elsewhere

Welcome Glen. Top Pop simply means it’s the top of the graded population at that grading company. Nothing is graded finer numerically. This can be checked by verifying the Cert number on the slab and looking at the population of others graded similarly. Once you pull up the Cert it should be easy to see.

Other than the pronunciation of water I agree with you it was surprisingly neutral to me when I lived there recently. And if you go any further up the coast the accents start pretty quickly. Cross the deleware and the Jersey accent is quickly upon you. Keep going and it grows. Before you know it you are trying to pahk the cah in Boston. Funny story I used to work with a lady that grew up until she was 8 or 10 in Augusta Georgia. Her family relocated to Boston and she was made fun of in school for her southern twang. Her family put her in speech therapy to neutralize it and now she has one of the thickest Boston accents I have ever heard. From one extreme to the other.

The sky is the limit with Morgans. Definitely many of them worth the cost and effort of slabbing. More than that not worth it. Morgans can be more than a lifetime of collecting. Whether you collect VAMs or just try to complete a set, especially including proofs, it’s enough to keep anyone busy and broke haha.

The problem is theoretically the Slab adds no value. This is debatable as far as in reality would a slabbed coin sell for more. But the old adage is buy the coin not the slab. Also a lot of collectors feel slabbing a modern proof, especially bullion, is a waste of time and money. The coin in the original packaging is sufficient and the difference between 69/70 is almost indiscernible. Im summary there are many arguments that you overpaid by $20 for the coin you bought if you paid $20 over retail.

I think the point you are making @GoldFinger1969 is a good one though. Which is why a lot of people ASEs are overpriced and not a good item to buy. Business strikes in bulk purchase may one day show a return (maybe) but buying slabbed ASEs seems illogical. Now I can’t say it’s wrong because clearly there is a market for them and people buy them. But what started out as a bullion piece with the backing of the US mint has turned into a quasi numismatic item. Does that silver in an ASE have more intrinsic value? Nope not at all. It’s still an ounce of silver. But as long as people continue a market for them they will remain inflated. But most collectibles have small intrinsic value and the cost is based on collector demand.

Seems as logical as any reason

No one is arguing that. The topic was why is the premium so high for ASEs. The answer is because people will still buy them from dealers. Then the question was why doesn’t the mint increase their price to dealers and cut into their premium. The answer is because they can’t because they have pricing regulations. And yes lots of forms of silver can be bought. Some generic silver rounds usually have $2-$3 premium over spot. Some items have premiums much much higher for artistic pieces or even sculptures from pure silver. But again the responses are all related to the discussion on ASEs and their premium.

It’s got a dull look and I bet in less extreme lighting it may have secrets to tell. Lighting can make the same coin look like infinite possibilities as you change lighting and angle

ASEs are a single source supplier (US Mint) and is not a free market based on their regulations. We were talking ASEs and the premium dealers charged.

I couldn’t see if any were small date or not. But none are Red that I can see. In brown it’s $10-$20ish depending on where it graded. None appear to be high MS. So brown low MS at best it’s not a high dollar coin. But again I couldn’t even see if they were large or small date for sure.

I figured it was a mystery

I would say VG-8 Details Environmental Damage. We can see what the consensus is.

@RWB A random question I’ve always been curious about. Why did the US make the decision to strike coins with “coin alignment” and not “medal alignment”. I know it’s a fairly common practice in many countries but I’ve always been curious why. Not that it matters much one way or another but seems like medal alignment would be more intuitive.

I also would never ever ever under any circumstance buy a coin off Mercari for what’s it’s worth.

It’s certainly not the sought after DDO for this one. It doesn’t look like the minor DDO either, but I can’t say for sure from the pictures because it is very minor. In the future please show a full picture of each side of the coin closely cropped. It’s hard to tell many times from just segments.

That’s awful. Did you get any damage? My team laughs because Denver is a go to for team meetings for me. I love getting out in the mountains or running up to Yellowstone or grand Teton when I’m there. I can mix in work and pleasure when we meet there.

James, Like Hoghead said JustBob’s thread got me curious as well. I have started a side collection of coins, tokens, medals, etc, related to the state of Alabama, which is where I was born and raised. Tokens are something that it’s easy to get nostalgic about because you can find them from your area, and many times may even know someone who worked at the company that issued them. Great way to connect with local history. Here is a couple I just picked up in recent auctions. The first is a civil war trade token. Alabama was a single merchant state meaning there was only one known company that issued them during that time The others are early tokens from The Mobile Jockey Club in Mobile Alabama. Little is known about the club, and there are more than 40 iterations of tokens/medals associated with them. This is just a couple of my newest ones. Obviously these aren’t transportation, but showing how many options there are for token collection. Most of mine are just local tokens in 2x2s I pick up as I find them

Not when there is a regulated monopoly supplier (I.e. US Mint in this case). That would be the case in a free market, but not when it’s a regulated supplier. I’m sure the mint leadership would love to be able to behave in that way and hate seeing the dealers margins grow and theirs stay flat.

I love it. I have started collecting some tokens myself. But debate is always around here or any public forum where opinions are given. Don’t let it bother you. People are good about shrugging things off even when they disagree, and there are some of the nicest and most knowledgeable people in numismatics you will ever meet on here floating around. I think you are picking up on who to just chuckle a little and move on vs who will help.