Opinions Wanted!

[Deerefan8420]

1878 and 1897-O Morgans. Let me know what you think! I've got a grade in mind but wanted some other opinions. Thanks guys!

[MarkFeld]

I would guess AU58 on the first coin and AU55 on the second one, though it looks like it has been cleaned.

[Deerefan8420]

Mark, thanks for your input! I was thinking AU55 for both coins. As far as being cleaned, I have not found any indications that either coin has been cleaned, If you could elaborate a little more for me, I would apprecaite that! Thanks

[MarkFeld]

Mark, thanks for your input! I was thinking AU55 for both coins. As far as being cleaned, I have not found any indications that either coin has been cleaned, If you could elaborate a little more for me, I would apprecaite that! Thanks

 

You're welcome. The sheen looks off on the second coin, but it might just be the coin's color and lighting. Sorry, I can't know for certain, based just on the one image.

 

Is the left side of the obverse actually lighter than the remainder of that side, or is that effect a result of your light source? Also, the lower portion of the reverse looks a bit off.

[$ilverHawk]

Mark, thanks for your input! I was thinking AU55 for both coins. As far as being cleaned, I have not found any indications that either coin has been cleaned, If you could elaborate a little more for me, I would apprecaite that! Thanks

 

A small aside not based on this thread, but understood by your tag line and forum name. Thank you for working the soil and making all of us richer. The Paul Harvey quote is very appropriate. Great Super Bowl ad by Dodge Ram. I hope Americans understand the importance of family farming.

 

Carl

[Deerefan8420]

Mark, I think it's just my light source and inexperience with taking pictures of coins. I have played around with my old camera quite a bit and decided it wasnt doing the trick so I bought a new one! The photo quality is much better and I am able to adjust more of the settings but I still have to work on lighting a bit. I'll do that later on today and see what I can get done.

 

Carl, thanks for your note. It was a great superbowl ad by Dodge, even though we are a Chevy family! And I have to admit that I got a little choked up, and still do, when I heard the ad. It was very moving. I had heard this speech from Mr. Harvey many years ago but did not think it would ever become that mainstream. We try to educate the uninformed on the importance of farming but yet there are some who still try to shut us, meaning farmers everywhere, down. Our operation has grown from a 40 acre potato farm in 1913 to a 4500 acre cotton farm. Sorry for being so long winded, but along with coin collecting, farming is one of my greatest passions.

[BLive1972]

Just buy a few goose neck lamps. As for the Morgans; I wouldn't even mess with anything graded under MS63. Being a new collector, I've been sticking with slabbed coins and hanging out here in the forums. There are some super helpful people here and you'll learn a lot. I've made a lot of bad buys and these guy's will be quick to tell you about your mistakes as well. Even if it seems harsh, listen. Not everyone has the same likes either, so you'll get those opinions as well

 

Just my 2 cents. Welcome. IMO, there's nothing wrong with the AU Morgans as long as you paid a decent price.

[Deerefan8420]

I have found and received a lot of helpful advice from the guys here on the forum and I've only been here for just a few days! I usually try to buy my Morgans graded and slabbed already but I visit a few of the local pawnshops, flea markets, individual sellers, etc. around my area and pick up the raw coins, mostly in bulk, for decent prices. I always try to figure in grading fees as well when buying raw coins so I try to get them as cheap as I can. I have yet to pay more than $50 for a raw Morgan! Those Morgans that don't make the cut just get stacked up in the bullion pile. I'm looking forward to a nice refund this year so I should be able to make a nice dent in my graded Morgan set!

[Deerefan8420]

I got a couple of nice lamps today, picked up some good daylight color 5000k color temp bulbs and sent up a makeshift photobooth in my spare room. This is what I've got so far. Still needs some adjusting but I think I'm getting a little better with it. This is one of the better shots out of the 40 or so I took. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[MarkFeld]

Based on the new image, the 1878 looks like it's somewhere between an AU58 and an MS61+.

[Deerefan8420]

I still have a bit more tweaking that I need to do. But I do think the image quality is a little bit better.

[Mark T]

I thought the coin was AU based on the first image , the second image confirms that .

[Deerefan8420]

Here's the 1897-O. I'm thinking AU on this one as well.

[MarkFeld]

Here's the 1897-O. I'm thinking AU on this one as well.

 

I'm still ion the AU55 range on that one.

[Deerefan8420]

That's about what I was thinking as well. NGC price guide shows the value of the 1897-O in AU55 to be $150. I paid $35 for the coin so if I sed it in for grading and decide to resell, I should still come out ahead!

[MarkFeld]

That's about what I was thinking as well. NGC price guide shows the value of the 1897-O in AU55 to be $150. I paid $35 for the coin so if I sed it in for grading and decide to resell, I should still come out ahead!

 

The fact that you might make money after paying for grading does not mean it is worth it to have the coin graded. I think you should come out ahead, either way and would be wasting your money.

[Deerefan8420]

Yeah, I understand that for some that it could be a waste of money. But from my experience, some buyers are willing to pay a bit more for a coin that has been graded amd certified. At least, that's how I feel about it. With the photo editing techniques out there these days, I know I would be more comfortable buying a coin thats in a slab already.

[MarkFeld]

Yeah, I understand that for some that it could be a waste of money. But from my experience, some buyers are willing to pay a bit more for a coin that has been graded amd certified. At least, that's how I feel about it. With the photo editing techniques out there these days, I know I would be more comfortable buying a coin thats in a slab already.

 

Sure, some buyers might pay a bit more. But I doubt it will be as much more as the cost of grading and postage. And that's what counts.

 

On the other hand, there are countless other coins, which due to their type and/or grade will fetch far more, as a result of being graded.

[Deerefan8420]

I may send my 1878 7TF 2nd Reverse in for grading to see if I can get that MS60. The only reason being is that I am trying to put together a set of Morgans graded 60 or above. It's so close that I would be willing to spend the $17. Plus I have other coins that I know will make MS60 so I juat have to decide if I want to include it with my submission. I wish NGC would recognize more VAMs than what they do. It would be nice to also have the VAM attribution for that coin as well.

[BLive1972]

That's about what I was thinking as well. NGC price guide shows the value of the 1897-O in AU55 to be $150. I paid $35 for the coin so if I sed it in for grading and decide to resell, I should still come out ahead!

 

I wouldn't go by the price guide value. First, I'd know what the market is willing to pay. The best way to do this is by going through auction archives to browse the sold coins. For this coin (looks cleaned), I'm seeing them sold for as low as $80-$90 in AU55 condition. Then again, they might grade it a 53 and you'll be more in the $70-$80 range. You got a great deal for $35, but as mentioned, there will be fees. If you're sending with other's....good luck!

 

MS60 would be a bonus.

[Mark T]

Waste of money to send these coins in for grading . If you want to build a set of MS 60 plus Morgan’s just purchase them already certified.

[coinman_23885]

AU58

AU details cleaned