What does it take to get from a 67 to a 68?

coinlieutenant

Ok...so I struck out on the 87-O earlier but what about these?

Thought that it would be interesting to hear thoughts on what makes an 8 different from a 7. Just bought them both.

airplanenut

Incredible lustre, super smooth cheek, great strike... that's the first thing I'd look for.

An alternative grading service might help, too

DennisH

It probably takes a good dose of Divine intervention.

Absurdly "WOW!" eye appeal is probably a must, too.

KlectorKid

I actually like that 67 more than the 68. I agree with others, its cheek, strike, and lustre.

GAT

You have to bow to the east four times, say 4 Hail Marys and pray to the grading gods 4 hours. Even then there's no guarantee you will make it.

DMWJR

I like the 81s on the left better. It' looks more natural.

Elcontador

John, I'm from the old school. To me, a classic coin that's graded higher than MS 67 is:
a) market graded
b) overgraded
c) both a) and b)

Coppernicus

Elcontador - I must disagree! Suppose there's a Morgan on a "flawless" planchet, from an early (first) strike of the die, and has been properly stored. Why couldn't it be a 70? What, is a grade over 67 only possible in theory? Like from a die that never existed? If so, how would a grader ever be able to assign a 67, 68 or 69 grade?

Your statement isn't based in the reality of the minting process, IMHO.

Mike

kyleknap

This is a very fine line, and a lot of it has to do with luck. I'd say the #1 thing that makes the difference is the "look" of an 8 (obviously this isn't very helpful, but it's true). More scientifically, the cheek and eagle's breast need to be perfect, or very nearly so. Personally, I've found 80-S's much easier than 81-S's. Based on the images, I would not consider either of the coins pictured here to be upgrade candidates, but I've been wrong many times before!

Kyle

PS...John, if you will be at Long Beach on Thursday or Friday, I will be happy to show you several examples that may prove more helpful than these comments.

coinlieutenant

Kyle,

Wont be at long beach but I appreciate it. I was mainly throwing it out there as a discussion point.

John

jdimmick

I agree first coin (left)looks to be very nice in person, and probably has excpetional eye-appeal and extremely clean. Nice 67

However, the coin on the right, I like better in a 66 holder? (In fact if submitted raw, may only 6 this go around) Again, hard to judge a coin by a photo.

ER

8 on left
7 on right
But, as Jim said, it's " hard to judge a coin by a photo."

relayer

<< <i>What does it take to get from a 67 to a 68? >>

One Point

JrGMan2004

Can't rightly say... I've seen a lot of 66s recently, but only one 67 and no 68s...

BigGreek

An 8 would require a fully struck coin IMO. The one on the left doesn't have it.
I can't tell about the one on the right.

etexmike

I have looked at a couple of 68's because I thought that I wanted to own one just because of the grade.

I own several 67's and a couple of them are actually nicer IMHO than any of the 68's that I considered purchasing.

If I ever do find a coin that I think truly merits the lofty grade I just might buy it.

Otherwise I think I will be happy with the one point less grade on my coins and spend the bucks elsewhere.

-----------

etexmike

Elcontador

Coppernicus - Scott Travers wrote a coin grading book around 1996 and the two of us are on the same page. In essence, he said that a 7 is the best you're going to see re a classic coin. Now I'm not a Morgan collector and the only one I own is an 84 CC in PC 6 which I think is nice for the grade.

Everything else I collect either is not affordable in 7, and either it doesn't exist in 8, or if it does, it's market / overgraded. Most business strike classic coins I've seen in 7 holders IMO have received a bump re their grades due to eye appeal. As long as people make coins, the minting process will be imperfect. A 70 is like the concept of a limit in calculus. You might get close, but you're never quite going to get there.

In the 19th century, the minting process and the storage of coins business strike coinswas imperfect at best. Because of the minting process and additional care taken, I would expect more of the highest graded coins to be PF, rather than business strikes. Remember, most of them were minted & then went into a bag or bin, so many coins could have contact marks before being circulated. An extreme example is the CC Morgans, which were shipped by stagecoach from Carson City to San Francisco.

astrorat

A different coin?

Lane

lazeroo

a 69 ?

BAJJERFAN

That 81-s on the left looks too flat over the ear to be a 67 much less a 68 IMO.

roadrunner

Other than what has been stated above with regards to luster, strike, and lack of hits on the figures, I also expect the fields to be free of any obvious grazes.

I've seen a few strictly graded MS68 classic type coins but not very many. "The" PCGS 1838 MS68 No drapery quarter is one of the finest type coins I've ever seen and deserving of the 68 grade in all respects. But what El Contador says is usually the rule. Even those coins graded 67 today are nothing more than what we used to call solid 66's 10-15 years ago. Maybe 1 out of 10 or 20 current MS68 type/classic coins (pre-1900) really merit the 68 grade both technically and aesthetically.

roadrunner

michael

flash blast and fantastic coloration with superb technically near perfect surfaces


but as said many times before on here there are many wannabes

michael

i have seen a killer ms68 graded halfdime pre civil war that is a killer but it is a small coin

Baley

if you hold the coin about 6-8" in front of your eyes and see no flaws, it might be a 68.

a 68 Morgan must make you go "wow" when turned in the light.

wam98

I like them both as they are as 67's in the old holders. I know that's not an answer. I don't think I would take the chance of the crackout and submit. JMHO

greghansen

Coin on the left wouldn't have a snowball chance in hades of making 68 IMO. If busted out and resubmitted, probably would be scrambing for its life to hold onto 67. A 68 is going to have to have phenomenal luster and can't have the haze thats apparent on the 1st coin. 2nd coin is better struck so between the 2 based on the pictures I'd rather have the 2nd coin.

bushmaster8

It is often simply a matter of how much $$ in grading fees you want to sink into the coin. Or, put another way, if you keep on sending the same coin in often enuff, you will often eventually get the upgrade (assuming you are talking about a liner coin).