Is this 1896 Morgan $ really a PCGS AU58?

FrankinWI

Can someone educate me and tell me why PCGS graded this Morgan AU58?(cert#21227280)

I've checked this coin out against other Morgans in my collection and I still don't see why this didn't grade MS. Am I missing something? Someone please educate me.

Frank

AbesNeighbor

Frank,
My grading skills aren't the greatest and its hard to tell from scans..The obverse looks MS to me.. The reverse has a lot of wear on Eagles Breast if scans are correct... Pretty coin though.

benloe

Looks like the hair above and below the ear on the obverse and the eagles breast feathers on the reverse kept it out of MS.

Dog97

In real life it probably does look MS but scans show things your eye can't see. See the slightly off-color area on the cheek that goes from the chin up to the eye & back to the ear that's slightly darker than the rest of the cheek and also on the folds of the cap, especially the lower fold over by the M in UNIM? That's from being rubbed, handled, mishandled, contact or whatever and the patina & luster is brokes so the scanner doesn't reflect the light. You wouldn't notice that in real life unless you're really really sharp with the subtle points of grading. It's also weakly struck which takes away from the attractiveness. A true slider.

MrKelso

What is the Luster like in real time Frank? There looks to be Rub near the ear and hairlines and on the ear itself, The cheek area doesn't look right. I am also making out a hit in the field near the chin and another hit behind the head. On the Rev i am making out Weak or worn breast feathers, There also appears to be hit on the right wing a hit above the A in states and a few small hit near the tip of the eagles beak.

Are these really there or is it by products of the Photo some how?

Back on the OBV i think i can see a hit on the nose.. I thought i heard someone say that PCGS tightened up there grading at some point.

Myddleton

Crack it out and resubmit it and I will bet you $100 that it comes back as a MS - maybe even a 63 or 64.

Send it in using the PCGS regrade system or whatever they call it and I believe it comes back as is.

I've read Mr. Hall's posts in here about how to resubmit things and how he doesn't understand why more people don't submit the coins in the holder for regrade with the guarantee that they won't come back any lower, etc - but in this case you know it can't possibly come back lower than 58 so it doesn't matter.

In practice the crack out seems to yield the best kind of results in this situation -

Go for it, you'll be glad you did.

sinin1

Looking in the PCGS Official Guide to Coin grading blackbook - I come up with what has been mentioned

Marks/strike/luster/eye appeal don't drop it but ->

WEAR:There will be slight wear on the highest points of the coin. In some cases, 5X magnification is needed to notice this wear, and sometimes it can be noticed by slowly tilting the coin in the light source. This method often may show the slight friction as discoloration. Very often, the obverse will have slight friction and the reverse will be full Mint State (often MS-63 or higher).


pg 27 from PCGS book


I think the very slight rub on the obverse keeps this from MS, in PCGS eyes (just be glad it isn't a 1896-O)!