Black spots on this Morgan dollar

[timo16]

This Morgan dollar has black spots on the reverse. At first I thought they were gunk and could be removed soaking in distilled water and acetone. Someone mentioned they are carbon spots and read they may be silver oxide spots. What are they? Can they be removed with acetone, and would they result in a details "stained" grade? Not that I am getting it graded.

[kryptonitecomics]

I don't believe they are removable and I see nothing about this coin that would make me believe it's in your best interest to submit it for grading. I think it would come back as environmental damage and the coin looks no better than an MS63 to me even if by some miracle it graded. your best bet would be to sell the coin if the spots bother you and buy a certified example with the look your after.

[coinman_23885]

I agree with Shane that it looks like environmental damage to me, and it is unlikely that you could successfully conserve the coin to make it into a problem free holder. Even without the spots, the coin would not be worth submitting in my opinion at this grade level. Cut your losses and sell it if you don't like it.

[timo16]

I actually bought a lot of two of these coins and deciding which one to keep. The other had a rim ding and decided to sell that one and keep this one since the details are a higher grade although the spots are more distracting than the rim ding. Maybe I undercharged and maybe should have charged for shipping or something because this sold fast. I know a rim ding on these would cause a detail grade. I charged $31.50 with shipping. With this sale the coin above cost me current melt value.

[johnny9434]

I don't believe they are removable and I see nothing about this coin that would make me believe it's in your best interest to submit it for grading. I think it would come back as environmental damage and the coin looks no better than an MS63 to me even if by some miracle it graded. your best bet would be to sell the coin if the spots bother you and buy a certified example with the look your after.

agreed.

[coinman_23885]

I recommend selling them both and buying a problem free example. A nice uncirculated coin isn't go for much more than melt currently. That's just my .

[timo16]

I recommend selling them both and buying a problem free example. A nice uncirculated coin isn't go for much more than melt currently. That's just my .

I know I am thinking I should sell them both. The second one in this thread sold in 5 minutes, maybe I should have charged more. Redbook is no more than $35 and I discounted it for the ding . I am calculating the coin cost me melt after selling the second coin and deducting what I made. Maybe I will keep it and sell it when silver goes higher but I don't know, probably get the same amount.

[PerryHall]

Both are problem coins---enviornmental damage on one and a rim ding on the other. They're essentially bullion. Sell them and buy a nice problem free coin.

[19Lyds]

To me, it sounds as if you are new and you're looking for a decent Morgan to collect. Of course, this is based upon your question regarding "grading" (which is out of the question regardless of what can be done to them) and whether or not they one would get a details grade.

 

If I were you, I'd sell and use to proceeds to buy a graded example or at the very minimum, pick one up that has an Ice Cubes chance of grading.

 

 

[BillJones]

Even if these coins did not have the environmental damage or a rim mark, they are not in high enough states of preservation to have them graded. The 1921 Morgan dollar is a very common coin. In years past where dealers made offers to buy Morgan dollars they would often specify that their offers to buy excluded 1921 Morgan dollars because they are so common. With a mintage of 44,690,000 and a high survival rate, this coin is anything but scarce.

[timo16]

Are you sure that isn't silver oxide on that first coin? I don't know if I would consider that environmental damage.

[timo16]

Both are sold, oh well. I will just have to get a different Morgan now.

[jpcienkus]

I think you'll be happy that you didn't buy these coins. There are plenty of Morgan's available in the market place that don't have these types of issues.

[Mr.Mcknowitall]

Like Vams?

Like die cracks?

You may want to review the coin, if you do.

May help answer your questions, including the one that sold.

[joes2001]

I've seen those dark spots on other coins, graded and ungraded. They're sometimes acceptable by the grading companies as natural corrosion/toning. Sometimes not. I don't know why. I think a bigger problem is that the coin has a very dried out, worn look to it surfaces, which probably is the result of excessive dipping. For that reason, it would probably get graded improperly cleaned. The other coin's ding is unacceptable to me as well. Sometimes a problem coin is not such a problem, depending on how you look at it. For example, I got a 1922 uncirculated Peace dollar. It is very beautiful, except for a subtle scratch that runs across about half of the obverse side. It was sold as bullion, but I liike it a lot.