Guess the grade of this 1903 Morgan dollar

[macrocoin]

Sorry for the lousy images, its the best I could do with my camera...I really need a better camera.

 

I am looking for some opinions...rough estimates.

I know that its fairly difficult to accurately grade from scanned images but give it your best guess.

 

Thanks.

 

[MunkyMan95]

Looks pretty nice from the photos, but the marks on the cheek right under the nose concern me. MS63 with a shot at 64?

[Bruceswar]

MS63.. Those marks will keep it down

[Regis44]

There is an area in the hair at the top of Liberty's ear that seems flat in the picture. Is that weak strike or otherwise compressed? Or, is that wear. I've seen similar and considered it wear on a couple recent "guess the grades", and I was wrong. How can you diffrenciate loss of detail (hair in this case) between wear and weak strike? There are a couple more small areas just benind her forehead.

 

Thanks for any help.

Regis

[Bruceswar]

There is an area in the hair at the top of Liberty's ear that seems flat in the picture. Is that weak strike or otherwise compressed? Or, is that wear. I've seen similar and considered it wear on a couple recent "guess the grades", and I was wrong. How can you diffrenciate loss of detail (hair in this case) between wear and weak strike? There are a couple more small areas just benind her forehead.

 

Thanks for any help.

Regis

 

The best way I have found to tell wear vs weak strike, is to first look at the highest points on the coin. If they are all present and others not then its a weak strike. If they are not all present, and others are not as well then you would stand to reason wear. With the image provided its hard to be 100% since you can see the luster etc for breaks, etc.

[needcoins-migration]

Being a newbie trying to learn myself, and being conservative just in case, I'm saying MS62. Not only the scratches under the eye on the cheek and another behinf and below the mouth, but the high point on the hair and "bun"? look like some wear, and the breast of the eagle on the reverse looks worn.

 

AND, I have no real clue. I posted what I saw just so other could tear it up so I can learn more too Awesome coin to me though. Want to mail it to me?

[macrocoin]

Thanks for the responses so far.

This is a raw coin that I picked up last year and I havent thought much about until I saw it again last night. I have considered sending it out for a slab and a grade but I am concerned that it may have been cleaned. The obverse shows signs of light cleaning...there is something just a bit too shiny about it. The reverse is pristine. I cant detect any circulation wear in the fields....just a few contact marks.

 

I cant say strongly enough how annoyed I get when I find a coin that had so much potential, and then someone along the line decided to take a cloth and make it shiny. The detail is fairly strong on both sides of the coin, and I am convinced its MS....so the wear that a few have mentioned up toward to top of the obverse (where it has this unatural shine) I assume was someones attempt to make the coin better

 

Any thoughts on if this would come back in a BB with a no grade because of the partial cleaning? Considering the detail and date, anyone think its worth sending out?

[chinook]

cleaned

[Bruceswar]

cleaned

 

The more I look at it the more I think you are corect

[WinstonWare]

What is giving away the cleaning? Need help seeing it...

 

Thanks, Winston

[Bruceswar]

What is giving away the cleaning? Need help seeing it...

 

Thanks, Winston

 

The shinyness from the first picture makes it look bad to me the more I look at it.

[macrocoin]

The shinyness from the first picture makes it look bad to me the more I look at it.

 

You think they would bag it then I assume?

Damn shame considering the detail on the reverse.

Even the detail on the obverse is there...if only someone could keep their silver polish in the kitchen cupboard

 

Considering the situation, anyone care to place a price on this coin?

Originally I was thinking $50-75 if it graded MS62-63.

Now I am thinking about half of that

[MunkyMan95]

Yeah, about half that... probably $25-$35

[TomB]

Regardless of whether or not this coin has been cleaned or wiped, which I cannot really tell from the images, why would you consider submitting it to get slabbed?

[MunkyMan95]

It looks to me like a pretty nice coin had it not been cleaned.

[macrocoin]

Regardless of whether or not this coin has been cleaned or wiped, which I cannot really tell from the images, why would you consider submitting it to get slabbed?

 

I picked it up raw last year with the intent on probably reselling.

I was new to Morgans at the time and frankly new to grading in general.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have passed on this coin. Under a loop it was obvious that the coin was uncirculated and the detail on teh reverse really sealed the deal for me at the time. It wasnt until I spent a little more time looking at it and got over the initial infatuation that I began to realize something wasnt right with the obverse. Today I would spot it pretty quickly, then I just saw what I thought was a good price on a coin I could resell for a profit. Beginners mistake as it turns out. I paid $45...and now will eat that cost and simply keep the coin. Fortunately, I still really do like the coin. It may be cleaned but I think it still has some great features...if not for the bag marks on the cheek I wouldnt even have wanted to sell it in the first place.

 

I suppose it will serve a good remainer to me when buying raw coins in the future....as with most things in life, if the deal seems too good to be true......it is.