Morgan grade?

http://img27.exs.cx/img27/1902/1881sL2.jpg

It's difficult for me to evaluate the condition of higher grade (EF-MS)
Morgans and I am wondering what you guys would grade this one as...

zax

Hi,
Always difficult to tell from a scan, but here goes. The 1881 S is abundant
in high grades. This one looks pretty good, I'd say close to MS 64.

Wes
"zax" wrote in message
...
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/1902/1881sL2.jpg

It's difficult for me to evaluate the condition of higher grade (EF-MS)
Morgans and I am wondering what you guys would grade this one as...

zax

On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 08:47:04 -0400, "zax" wrote:

http://img27.exs.cx/img27/1902/1881sL2.jpg

It's difficult for me to evaluate the condition of higher grade (EF-MS)
Morgans and I am wondering what you guys would grade this one as...

zax


Hard to tell from those images. If not cleaned, looks to be a MS63-64.
However, it has a look that bothers me.
--
K6AZ WEB PAGES

http://www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm

Yes. It is "that look" that I am trying to get a handle on.

First of all, I paid less than $25 for the coin, and I am pretty happy with
it in general, so I am probably being too critical and scrutinizing or
microanalyzing the thing beyond what is appropriate. Still, it is not an
easy task to determine if it has been cleaned, dipped, polished, whizzed,
whacked, buffed,or whatever. I can't see *any* signs of wear, so my thinking
is that it is an MS. I guess I would have graded it less than 63 but I am
just trying to get comfortable making sure it is an "original" MS.

As you said, it is hard to tell from the images - I took those with the
intention of portraying the coin in the best light. Nice thing about a
decent digital cam is that you can get a straight image that looks to be
about the same as a 5X magnification or more. Also, you can angle the light
to emphasize scratches and flaws. So, that's what I have done with a few
more images.

http://img5.exs.cx/img5/1345/obv1.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/2039/obv2.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/7441/rev1.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/6901/rev2.jpg

There are a lot of scratches on the face, and many of them appear to be
parallel - does this suggest a mechanical effect beyond bouncing around
against its neighbors at some time?

There is a paucity of luster, but it is there. The dull, filmy or frosty
luster does not have even coverage (you can see it on part of the stars and
in the crevices of the hair) - evidence of dipping?

In general, the coin has something of a mirror-like finish. Not as much as
a proof, but mirror-like nonetheless. Some areas of the field, such as by
the arrows, are quite clean and even , which I am interpreting as evidence
against the probability of some kind of polishing. Other areas, like near
"In God We Trust", however, are marked - almost striated. Evidence of
polishing?

Well, anyways, you (and quite a few others) have seen a lot more of these
than I have, so if you get a chance, please let me know what you think of
the details.


Thanks,

zax





"K6AZ" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 08:47:04 -0400, "zax" wrote:

http://img27.exs.cx/img27/1902/1881sL2.jpg

It's difficult for me to evaluate the condition of higher grade (EF-MS)
Morgans and I am wondering what you guys would grade this one as...

zax


Hard to tell from those images. If not cleaned, looks to be a MS63-64.
However, it has a look that bothers me.
--
K6AZ WEB PAGES

http://www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm

Thanks for taking a look Wes. If you have a chance, would you check out the
detailed pics - I posted links in the other response- I would be very
interested in knowing whether a different look changes your opinion.

Thanks,

zax

"Wes Chormicle" wrote in message
k.net...
Hi,
Always difficult to tell from a scan, but here goes. The 1881 S is
abundant
in high grades. This one looks pretty good, I'd say close to MS 64.

Wes
"zax" wrote in message
...
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/1902/1881sL2.jpg

It's difficult for me to evaluate the condition of higher grade (EF-MS)
Morgans and I am wondering what you guys would grade this one as...

zax

On Thu, 9 Sep 2004 20:10:52 -0400, "zax" wrote:

Yes. It is "that look" that I am trying to get a handle on.

First of all, I paid less than $25 for the coin, and I am pretty happy with
it in general, so I am probably being too critical and scrutinizing or
microanalyzing the thing beyond what is appropriate. Still, it is not an
easy task to determine if it has been cleaned, dipped, polished, whizzed,
whacked, buffed,or whatever. I can't see *any* signs of wear, so my thinking
is that it is an MS. I guess I would have graded it less than 63 but I am
just trying to get comfortable making sure it is an "original" MS.

As you said, it is hard to tell from the images - I took those with the
intention of portraying the coin in the best light. Nice thing about a
decent digital cam is that you can get a straight image that looks to be
about the same as a 5X magnification or more. Also, you can angle the light
to emphasize scratches and flaws. So, that's what I have done with a few
more images.

http://img5.exs.cx/img5/1345/obv1.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/2039/obv2.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/7441/rev1.jpg
http://img5.exs.cx/img5/6901/rev2.jpg

There are a lot of scratches on the face, and many of them appear to be
parallel - does this suggest a mechanical effect beyond bouncing around
against its neighbors at some time?

There is a paucity of luster, but it is there. The dull, filmy or frosty
luster does not have even coverage (you can see it on part of the stars and
in the crevices of the hair) - evidence of dipping?

In general, the coin has something of a mirror-like finish. Not as much as
a proof, but mirror-like nonetheless. Some areas of the field, such as by
the arrows, are quite clean and even , which I am interpreting as evidence
against the probability of some kind of polishing. Other areas, like near
"In God We Trust", however, are marked - almost striated. Evidence of
polishing?

Well, anyways, you (and quite a few others) have seen a lot more of these
than I have, so if you get a chance, please let me know what you think of
the details.


Thanks,

zax

Wow, nice closeups.

The coin has been cleaned, and as such is worth maybe $15. I suspect that
you had a suspicion that this coin had problems, and you were right. As it is,
a very inexpensive lesson for you. On some of the better date Morgans, this
would have been a very expensive lesson.
--
K6AZ WEB PAGES

http://www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm