OK. I guess I'm Wrong and NGC along with ANACS are Right!

[braddick]

I purchased this Morgan, raw, from a local shop. I liked the color and thought it would have no problem slipping into an NGC holder... well, No. NGC returned it was "questionable color" so off to ANACS. This is the end of the trail for this one:

 

 

 

What is it the Services are seeing that I'm missing? The color looks authentic to me.

[Hoot]

Why AT the living hell out of the obverse and not the reverse???

 

Hoot

[truthteller]

Those collectors who have not collected coins prior to 1987 have a very difficult time distinguishing AT, since, there is really nothing to compare it too if the coin is in a holder. The morgan shown is blatant AT for a dollar. They just don't come like that. You have to compare the color versus what holder or conditions the coins were in to achieve such color. A 1936 long island commem with greens, and reds is much more likely to be real than a 1921 walker with greens and reds. Remember, commems were issued in special holders producing such colors, while early walkers were placed in kraft envelopes and developed russet colors. A commonality for color on both commems and walkers might be Wayte Raymond type album color, which is very difficult to duplicate. A Kennedy half will have all sorts of wierd colors while a 1893s Morgan dollar will not. How many Peace dollars have you seen with sea-green toning or textile bag toning? Not many for sure, and if you do, be cautious about the color.

 

Pat, think of it this way. When you pull over a automobile for speeding, and the car is a New Mercedes with no plates, and the driver looks like a bum, with disheveled clothes and face, wouldn't you be suspicious? You would because the guy looks out of place in a New Mercedes. If the guy were in a 1977 wrecked Pinto, you would assumed the guy fit the car. Same with coins, ask yourself, does the color fit the coin?

 

 

TRUTH

[braddick]

Lesson learned. It is not always the color in and of itself, but the color on a particular coin that is the "tell".

 

Thanks TRUTH. Food for thought.

 

(PS: There used to be the thinking that any Mexican, driving a beater pickup truck after midnight, wearing a ten gallon cowboy hat, was DUI. In this PC world of ours, that isn't considered Probable Cause anymore! Go figure. . .)

[solid]

I think there is a book on toned coins just waiting to be written by a knowedgeable individual or group. I certainly would buy it!

 

Ken

[mrDQ-migration]

I've been on record for a long time as not liking those types of colors on coins not because i'm any coin genious or anything, I just don't find them attractive. TO each his own. My opinion is that many of the coins currently holdered would get labeled as AT if re submitted AND if the graders themselves knew what to look for but the knowledge just isn't there yet.

 

An analogy that comes to mind is Breast Implants believe it or not. There is a XML sheet floating around on the internet put out by PLAYBOY showing 20 naked chests and you guess if they're real or fake. I scored 10 of 20 and some of those RIGHT ones were guesses. My problem was I was so enthralled by the actual nudity I wasn't seing the forrest for the trees. My wife on the otherhand nailed the test with a perfect 20 the first time. While she was going through it she was pointing out to me what was wrong with each pair along the way. When Breast Test 2 came out later on I only got 1 wrong.

 

Along those same lines I think that with education and awareness as TRUTHTELLER says some of those coins are just "impossible" in those colors and patterns.

 

COLLECT THEM IF YOU LOVE THEM but call them what they are. I don't have any hatred of silicone breast implants but at least I can spot them even on some clothed women now.

 

 

tom

 

p.s. not the REVERSE of that coine gets MY numismatic juices flowing

[michael]

original toned business strike p mint late 19th century morgans do not look like this

 

the colors are totally wrong

 

the colors do not sit right on the coin

 

the coin just does not look "right" with the colors looks like the colors were added in a really short time period

 

mostly crayon type colors which float on the surface of the coin classic AT

 

specific series/dates/mintmarks/eras/deomniations/metals/method of manufacture-business strike-proofs etc. of coins have certain looks

 

on business strike morgans toning has certain color progressions this coin has no such color progressions

 

 

 

also what truth said

 

now this is from the scan i would need to see the coin in person sight seen to see its lustre, the edges of the coin the rims/third side of the coin etc. to say more about it

 

michael

[errorist]

Looks like the obverse was exposed to some excessive heat while the reverse was submerged in water.

[GP_]

thanks for the lesson there Truth, some good stuff to keep in mind.