My first Morgan what do you think/any grading thoughts

goldrush00013

Just acquired this Morgan 1899 O. I'm a novice, so how did I do for $22

Varlis

Looks cool--hard to go wrong for $22.00!

Placid

goldrush00013

Any Grade thoughts

fivecents

Looks like a 4 shot 5. You did good.

goldrush00013

goldrush00013

Whats a 4 shot 5?

nankraut

That means it should grade as MS64, with a shot at MS65. Nice coin...

KlectorKid

MS-64 or MS-65

JrGMan2004

He thinks it should grade MS64 with PCGS, but has a "shot" at going into an MS65 holder. I like the coin, it has nice color

Coppernicus

Nice buy! I'd have to say 64. I just got back a few Morgans from PCGS and they all were graded 64. I really thought two (of 5) were lock 65's. I think PCGS is really tough on the 64-65 border. Below gem is easy, gem is a lot tougher.

Mike

FullHorn

nice coinbut you gotta take it out of the 2x2 for the pic, and maybe slap a thumb print on it or drop it, makes it more exciting
that way, you know, kinda like extreme coin collecting, thats what buying raw is all about edit to get emotion right

techeff

MS64 (won't make it in a 65 holder with the hit on the REV). Nice coin!

Sphinx357

AU58, I see wear on the eagle's breast.

DennisH

Looks like an MS63/64... which means you got WAY more than $22 worth!! Way to go!

lava

For $22 the lesson to be learned is don't buy raw coins. Many people here will say the same, and many will say there are great opportunities to be had. The problem is you won't recognize those opportunities. Don't feel insulted -- I don't recognize those opportunities, and I've been doing this for a long time. The more you see the more you realize that grading is tough, leave it to the professionals who are willing to pay for their opinion if they are wrong. In a PCGS slab stating ms65, most here would agree, and conversely, if it said au58, most would agree, because we know PCGS gets it right a lot of the time (not all the time, but they probably won't mistake a 65 for a 58 very often).

As for your coin, I bought a similar one recently that is graded ms65, at least similar in the sense that there is a similar mark near the eye. I see three marks on the obverse. If any are deep, it may preclude the coin from going above ms62. The same can be said of the mark on the eagle's breast feathers.

For this particular year and mint, strikes are usually pretty good. As one person noted, the breast feathers are not sharp -- possibly a sign of wear, and taking it down to au something -- 58, 55, 53?
If it were a 1901 for example, where poor strikes are common, there would be less of a concern about the detail, but here, the apparent softness may suggest wear. Take a look at some au58s in PCGS over at Heritage's site using their zoom feature, and you will see that wear can be very subtle, and I have several graded 58s with a fresher appearance than your recent purchase.

Back to slabs -- one of the problems is you are not sure what the grade is. When you go to sell it, the person you sell it to may not be familiar either. It is easier to sell if it is graded. Your buyer may be thinking "gee, if I'm wrong I'm only out $22." BUT, if you are right and this is a ms65, you are not going to want to part with it for $22, or even $44, because a true 65 would sell for more.

For my money, I rather pay ms65 money and buy the 1899-0 in a PCGS slab confirming the grade. I hope you see the light. Say you are convinced this is an ms65, then you might have been willing to pay $100. Now if it turned out to be wrong you'd stand to lose much more. Maybe you got it right with this one, but you' may call it wrong the next time.

Your money is safer, and your collectible is more liquid, as well as better protected, if you just buy the coin slabbed by PCGS. You might also consider NGC or ANACS, but make sure you are comfortable with how they graded it. Many coin sales these days take place via the internet, so a third party grader's opinion is very helpful.

Hope there is some wisdom in here somewhere in my babbling. For now, you paid $22 for a coin you like, so enjoy it. But the next time .....

Happy collecting.

darktone

$22 sounds like a fair price. I would call it as AU/BU if I were to sell it. mike

goldrush00013

Thanks for all your help. I thought this coin was a good buy regardless of grade. I really like it and thats what counts.

anablep

Nice job for $22.00
Looks AU (due to the breast feathers) but could be MS 63 if its just a weak strike and the marks are shallow enough.

I'm beginning to learn that coin collecting is not bargain hunting per se. Especially on ebay. Many times you get what you pay for. Sometimes, you luck out and get more than you pay for.

Enjoy your new Morgan.

DorkGirl

I really like her!! And check out that mint mark, looks like a VAM to me. Sure looks like it's tipped---