Morgan Dollar. Tell me your thoughts
Martin
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Picked this up at a local BM. Beat me up some and tell me what’s wrong with it. What got my eye was how bright white the coin was. It’s seems to white to me. I know 81-s come nice. I can’t help but think this coins been messed with. I paid $100 for it. Figured you guys could set me straight and the
Lesson would be worth it. Pictures are from a iPhone and I’m not skilled at photos
Thanks in advance Also I can take beating no need to hold back
Martin
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Comments
It looks like you did alright, it may be cleaned looking at the pics but I don't think it is based on the reverse. At a 64 you're in the same price range, and it looks at least a 64.
Coin Photographer.
Seems like it would be around a 63/64, likely dipped, but market acceptable.
My first thought was 64 as well. The days of buying MS Morgans for $30 have long passed.
The photos are not of good enough quality to make any judgement. $100 for a raw, ultra-common date Morgan strikes me as being way too high.
I saw a guy pay over $200 for a certified example at my local coin ship. So in that context, you did okay.
It seems like it’s a high price for a very common date. I remember when people thought 100 bucks was a high number when the bid for an MS-65 hit that on the Grey Sheet. The price came down from that not too long after that.
Looks like a nice coin from your pics. Assuming there are no hairlines or other defects not showing up in your pics, I would call it a 65.
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Pics are a little bright to see details but looks about 64 to me also.
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nice widget. those images really suck.
Certainly a bright white Morgan... May have been dipped... It should straight grade. Cheers, RickO
My thoughts are that it's hard to get a real good feel for the coin from those images. And that it's extremely common, with (already-graded) MS64 examples available for about what you paid.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
It looks nice but you could have bought a slabbed one for the same price and there’s nothing exciting about an 1881-S Morgan.
Thank you very much guys. for your input. I know a snap and shoot picture on a coin it hard to judge . What got me on this coin (impulse buy) was how bright it is. It also is lacking in naked eye chatter. The chatter is apparent with a 10x and of course the photo. I was mainly hoping someone here could identify if the surfaces had been messed with IE whizzing or light buffing or some other manipulation although I don't see it. I have a hard time identifying altered surfaces.
Again thanks for the advice. I really was thinking i'd get the it obvious to me its............ fill in the bland responses.
Maybe the coin did come out the bright.
Thanks Again
Martin
Unfortunately, the lighting is making it difficult for me to gauge what the surfaces look like or the remaining cartwheel luster. I agree it looks like a pretty clean coin... 64, maybe a shot at 65? But we would need better images and from different angles (or coin in-hand) to see if there's evidence of whizzing/buffing... I'd look for patches of small lines or abrasions that all tend in the same direction... and not in the direction of the normal metallic flow lines that develop when the coin is struck...
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@ifthevamzarockin can you take a
Look at Morgan and give me your thoughts on its surfaces. My gut tells me it’s been messed with other than a dip
Main
A little hard to tell from the photos but it looks nice and appears like it could be a 64 or 65.
I'm not seeing anything that would indicate it's been messed with.
It’s hard to tell from the photos exactly how it looks, so I’ll give a piece of advice with more generality. This is a case where knowing the series will really help. The 81-S is bar none the easiest Morgan to find nice. Clean examples with bright surfaces are the norm. What that means is you can be extremely discerning and get both a really nice coin and not really need to pay much premium. So in this case, unless the coin is way better than the photos, I’d guess you’d have been better off holding out for a graded coin or one you’re much more sure is a great example. This is one of those dates where there’s no reason to leave something on the table when it comes to quality.
Problem: It is another 1881S. There are so very many excellent examples.
This! If there's any issue with an 81-S Morgan Dollar just walk to the next table... you'll likely find a nice one without any difficulty...
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Unnecessary post
.
what is the point to posting something like this, if i cant post something like that?
"Also I can take beating no need to hold back"
IF NO HIDDEN HAIRLINES, 65, SHOT 66. J.P
Says you. Those images make it difficult to asses the coin properly.
Unnecessary post
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
@LanceNewmanO I’m a big boy and no offense was taken
I do appreciate all the responses. I bought this coin because it was too white. My gut told me that it had been messed with. I wanted to learn or verify what it was. What I learned is that my I phone and I can’t take a picture of a coin. And that my gut was wrong. Now I’m stuck with a 81s in a 2x2. When I picked this coin up I was not in the market for actually any coin.
And BTW. The coin looks like a 67 with out my glasses
So win win for me😂
Thanks again the brain power here is awesome
Martin
looks 65ish
Collector, occasional seller
The reverse looks good to me. If anything I’d say the obverse looks a little funky but I’d have to see it out of the 2x2 or in hand to say anything for sure.
I like it but common date in high grades. 81CC and then I’m excited...
What I learned is that my I phone and I can’t take a picture of a coin.
The thing that jumped out at me when I opened the thread is you took the photo of the coin in the 2X2, that very often makes getting a good shot difficult as the window film creates glare and interference. Most cell phones can take very nice photos, taking your photos out of the 2X2 in the future would likely give you much better results.
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i appreciate that! i was hoping for a little banter is all.
i understand some people can't/don't take images well and/or can't/don't process them but taking a coin out of a flip is ESSENTIAL! that glare can severely offer up any valuable advice we may provide.
you will certain need to distinguish a coin that has been dipped (and/or properly/improperly rinsed) vs one that has been stripped but not cleaned. the luster usually suffers greatly in overdipped/stripped coins and severly alters the condition/value.
part of why some people dip coins is because it makes the contact marks stand out less but this usually comes at the cost of nice luster/frost. if you tilt the coin at the correct angles, the contact marks still reflect light not too dissimilar from facets in a gem, they will POP.
the last thing and it is hard to tell from those bright images, is that there may be some PL to the coin. we'll call it pizzaz in this case.
Are those the same photos, just rotated? Why not take the coin out of the flip and see how a few more photos turn out?
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
You overpaid for the common date. The photos make the coin look dipped or polished. I would hope that your local BM would not send you out the door with a polished 1881 S for $100. It appears that you could have got more coin for less money buying a graded TPG example. When I first started collecting Morgan's, I was paying/buying raw MS better dates from a dealer. I sent 5 better dates coins into NGC for grading and all examples came back at AU58. That was my first paid lesson in grading.
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yes.
My take is if you bought it because it appealed to you as a beautiful coin and you were willing to part with $100, then you got a deal. If it was for a future ROI, then I don't know. I have overpaid for a lot of ungraded coins because I did not know how to estimate grades. I am a littler better these days, but I end up buying graded because then I at least know. I still look at several examples on the graded because some have a lot more eye appeal than other coins with the exact same grade.
The piece looks OK and original, at least as far as I can tell from the images provided. 81-S pieces tend to come nice like this. Good type set example
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From what I can tell from the photos, no signs of whizzing. Polishing is a little harder to assess, but I think I see enough frost to rule that out.
@LanceNewmanOCC yes it does have slight mirrors (pizzaz) is a good term. Your reposting of the coin looks better than my pictures. 😀 go figure
@GatormanTX I actually bought this coin because I thought it had been messed with (more than a dip) but couldn’t see it for my self.
No one should blame the BM. There are times they seek my opinion before they submit. I missed one badly a few months ago I’m glad it didn’t cost me anything. That is partly why I bought this coin. My gut told me on both coins something might be amiss Even though they came to the shop via different sources
When I get some time won’t be this week I may take a few naked pictures of the coin. I’d submit tot it but I don’t want to Wait and no sure I want to spend more on the coin. Even if it straight grades (that coin doesn’t belong in a slab
@kaz thanks for chiming in good to see you post some
Thanks again all
Martin