Guess the grade of this beauty.......

[sanmary]

In the spirit of Spy88, check out this coin. Please understand that I am not trying to dis-respect anyone, especially the seller of this coin. I have done business with them a few times and have always been very satisfied. My point is to find out what the rest of you would really accept as the accurate grade. I'll post the slabbed grade tomorrow night.

[RobertB]

That Morgan: I'll go MS62.

 

Rob

[errorist]

MS 63. Someone already said MS 62. MS 62 would have been my first choice.

 

KINGKOIN KING OF KOINS

[jtryka]

I would go MS-64, maybe MS-65 if I was feeling generous.

[EZ_E]

I would go MS-64, maybe MS-65 if I was feeling generous.

 

First impression: ms-64, but ditto on Jeff's comment.

[toyonakataro]

66 is my honest guess

[Weidel Legacy Collection]

Amen on the MS64 grade. The reverse is probably better, like MS65+ but the marks on Liberty's focal areas knocks the grade down.

[jom]

MS64 but since the scan doesn't show luster it could be higher or lower depending. There is that scrap on the cheek however...

 

jom

[supapimp]

[Wihlborg]

Jom,

 

I believe what you noticed on Miss Liberty’s cheek is die polish and not a scrape. If you look closely at the reverse you will see that there is a large area of die polish there also, although not as heavy. I have seen this on Morgan dollars many times and believe it is fairly common.

 

John

 

[chinook]

I guess ms-66

[RobertB]

Jom,

 

I believe what you noticed on Miss Liberty’s cheek is die polish and not a scrape. If you look closely at the reverse you will see that there is a large area of die polish there also, although not as heavy. I have seen this on Morgan dollars many times and believe it is fairly common.

 

John

 

Does the color covering the area (beigish) of the scratch patch on the obverse throw you off though. It looks totally inconsistent with the frostyness of the rest of the coin to me. Could be toning there however. Believe me I'm no expert on this series (too many floating around for me!). So I'm in no way questioning you. Just wondering if you noticed it?

[sanmary]

A couple of you were correct in guessing the grade at MS66. Personally it's hit a bit much for me to consider it a 66. To learn to trust ones own eyes is a good thing. Thanks everyone for your participation.

[RobertB]

Wow, got me big time. Never was my series though. Beautiful piece in any grade if you ask me.

[Wihlborg]

Hi Robert,

 

Yes, I did notice the color you mentioned, and I believe it is consistent with areas of heavy die polish. While certainly not all of the Morgan dollars that I have seen with areas of heavy die polish have had this sight color in the area of die polish, a lot of them did. It seems to be only visible when the light catches it just right. I have wondered what would cause this and there are only two things I can think of as a reason for it. One is that this area is rougher than the surrounding areas of the coin, and this rougher surface allows toning to start there easier. The other is that the roughness of this area reflects light differently than the rest of the coins surface, making this area look off white compared to the rest of the coin.

 

John

 

[fcloud-migration]

I think 64 is the grade. It does look like an outside chance for a 65. The coin has a nice looking original skin.

 

[Wihlborg]

sanmary,

 

I withheld my opinion as to the grade of this coin until now because I had already seen it on Ellesmere’s web site and knew what it had been graded.

 

IMO the coin is well struck, and looks very frosty. There is a good size hit on Miss Liberty’s neck as well as a few other smaller hits scattered about her face. Her eyebrow looks scruffy. There is one good hit behind the ‘D’ in united on the reverse as well as another smaller hit above the ‘O’ in dollar. I believe the other darker areas scattered about the coin are breaks in the luster. I am not considering the areas of die polish in my opinion of the coins grade, because they came from the dies at the time the coin was struck. I would not buy this coin as a MS-66. Without seeing the coin in person I would grade it MS-64 to MS-65 depending on its luster.

 

John

 

[sanmary]

My thoughts too. Probably a lot better looking 66's around. Once again the old saying "buy the coin, not the holder" rings true.