Do the scratches on this coin bother you as much as they do me? **ANSWERED**

Insider2

lcoopie

Not me

1630Boston

I don't think those are scratches on the coin, are they?

MFeld

What scratches? And if there are any, how much do they bother you?

messydesk

Referring to the hairlines on the rim that go from 10:00 to 4:00, maybe? They don't bother me unless there is a big patch in the field that goes along with them that is hidden in the picture.

PerryHall

I like that die crack. The scratches don't bother me.

Rollerman

Looks like a due break to me, and they don't bother me all that much, it kind of gives the coin character. Actual scratches are a deal killer for me.

DoctorPaper

Obviously die breaks. Dies breaks are raised above the surface of coins, scratches go below the surface. Die breaks of this magnitude rarely, if ever decrease value, but in the case of Morgan dollars, if strategically located, can sometimes be responsible for recognizable die irregularities, producing valuable subtypes (VAM's), sometimes, in otherwise common date/MM dollars.

JohnnyCache

All I see are these, and they don't appear too troubling.

Walkerguy21D

@DoctorPaper said:
Obviously die breaks. Dies breaks are raised above the surface of coins, scratches go below the surface. Die breaks of this magnitude rarely, if ever decrease value, but in the case of Morgan dollars, if strategically located, can sometimes be responsible for recognizable die irregularities, producing valuable subtypes (VAM's), sometimes, in otherwise common date/MM dollars.

Must be a trick question, or some other angle, as the OP knows what most of us are obviously seeing are die breaks.....

DoctorPaper

I've been gone a long time. Now I see Insider2 is posting nice educational quizzes. I may have stumbled into an obviously educational thread like a dummy. Or maybe it IS those rim marks that JohnnyCache detected, but they seem so minor....

Walkerfan

I don't see scratches......just die cracks.

ThreeCentSilverFL

No they don’t bother me. Will the coin get a details grade because of them? Are there more?

Coinscratch

Which ones?

Insider2

What about the major scratches through the letters and into the field?

Coinscratch

@Insider2 said:
What about the major scratches through the letters and into the field?

Nope, those are too small compared to the die cracks.

MarkInDavis

Unless this is a trick question referring to die cracks, I barely see any scratches.

ms70

Moxie15

guess i am blind.
I do not see them

Insider2

@JohnnyCache said:
All I see are these, and they don't appear too troubling.

OK, too easy. As many posted, these are not scratches but raised, squiggly, breaks in the die going through the letters.. The member who posted the red circles has a good eye for detail. However, we call these tiny lines (micro scratches) "hairlines." Note the coin is also stained.

Hemispherical

Ah, new quiz format.

Excellent @Insider2!

Treashunt

too easy

ricko

That was easy....Just die cracks and hairlines ....Cheers, RickO

lkenefic

Actually, this was a good "teaching moment" for newbies! Love the die cracks...

Insider2

@Treashunt said:
too easy

Easy for you!

These are for beginners. Thanks for waiting to post.

Coinscratch

@Insider2 You know the gigs up if I can answer that one

You recently mentioned a website in another thread. While I was there I noticed they offered some Lincolns as well. They had an 88 wide AM. Well, after two years of roll searching I was not even aware of this one. So, I went to an old (first) tackle box of BU 80's coins are started looking. I didn't find any but, I did find several high grade coins that I put in flips and forgot about. At the time I knew they were good but not sure how good. Knowing a little more now, I look at them and see zero rub and zero marks and with plenty of luster, strikes varied.

I sent 10 of them off for grading and will post in the next few days once the grades and pics are available.
Hopefully the grades will be worthy of posting, feeling confident. Thanks in advance

Treashunt

@Insider2 said:

@Treashunt said:
too easy

Easy for you!

These are for beginners. Thanks for waiting to post.

Of course.

Electricity

Insider, can you please describe the staining that you see?

I do see lighter coloring in the fields

Insider2

The silver has oxidized. This amount is very close to "environmental damage" and has etched the underlying surface. If this is all there is on the entire coin, it may be called "stained."

opportunity

In my experience, if you have to struggle to see scratches in pics that large, it's going to be probably invisible to the naked eye. Also, the obvious feature is clearly a die crack. I'm not even sure what scratches I'm looking at?

Insider2

Agree. However, some inexperienced collectors MIGHT think the obvious DC's were the scratches. One
sharp-eyed member found a hairline or two when the coin was magnified at 15X.

mbogoman

OK, now for the advanced students - obviously it's a Trade Dollar, but what year?

stealer

@mbogoman said:
OK, now for the advanced students - obviously it's a Trade Dollar, but what year?

Without pulling up images of likely suspects, I'm going to guess 1875 S Type 1/1.

JimTyler

Body bag

Jimnight

I could be wrong.. but can those scratches even be seen without magnification?

blitzdude

No scratches that I see, don't particularly care for the die cracks but certainly easier to stomach then the nasty on a coin.

Insider2

@Jimnight said:
I could be wrong.. but can those scratches even be seen without magnification?

Possibly with halogen light and just the right angle. Usually we do not call microscopic hairlines scratches. The fact that the go across a dark patch makes them easier to see.

@mbogoman said:
OK, now for the advanced students - obviously it's a Trade Dollar, but what year?

I don't remember the date. I can look in my die break file but I suspect you know the date already and that's why you asked.

You have given me an idea for a quiz to REALLY test the advanced numismatists here.