A Question Whose Answer Could Result in a Difference of Several Hundred or Thousand Dollars.........
DBSTrader2
Posts: 3,497 ✭✭✭✭
I was just looking through my Whitman folders of Morgan Dollars as I gave a number of newly-purchased ones a new home, when I came across something I hadn't noticed before........
Many years ago as a kid, I came across an "empty" folder #3 (1891-1897) at a flea market, only to open it at home to find it actually had 2 Morgans still in it! (1894 & 1896) . I wrote on the backing of each hole the fact that I had found the 2 coins already in the folder - - one in the 1894-O spot and the other in the 1896-P spot.
Today, while looking at the coins again, I noticed the 1894 was in the 1894 hole vs the 1894-O, but the notation I had made was in the 1894-O spot. And now I am a bit confused & curious........ According to my outdated 1998 Blackbook guide to US coins, the 1894 (mintage .1 million) ran $165/$240/$375/$1110/$9800 in ABP/F12/EF40/MS60/MS65, while the 1894-O (mintage 1.75 million) ran $13/$22/$50/$700/$28000.
Obviously, there'd have been a big incentive to "alter" an 1894-O to an 1894! The Blackbook has an asterisk after its entry for 1895 for just that possibility, in fact.
My coin (I will have to try to get a picture of it and upload it here) looks to be in EF+ condition, but has a "shine" to it and a bit more wear at the bottom reverse (on the letters DOLL of "One Dollar") - - almost as if it had been rubbed/sanded slightly. And there appears to POSSIBLY be a remnant of a shiny bit of solder where the "O" mintmark should be (and then sanded-down?). Maybe my mind is running overtime on this one, or maybe someone did alter it?
I'm wondering if, sometime in the past, whomever left the coin in the folder might have though that was the case, which is why I found & notated the coin as having been in the 1894-O spot. And maybe sometime later, as I was going thru my folders without paying any attention to mintages & values, I saw no mintmark & moved it to the 1894 slot.
So we have a mystery wrapped-up in an enigma............. do I have a valid 1894 and am just seeing things, or do I really have an altered 1894-O made to look like an 1894? AND........ what would the values be of each in EF or better condition today?
I'll try to have my son take pictures of it later today to try to upload for everyone's opinions.
Thanks!
- - Dave
Many years ago as a kid, I came across an "empty" folder #3 (1891-1897) at a flea market, only to open it at home to find it actually had 2 Morgans still in it! (1894 & 1896) . I wrote on the backing of each hole the fact that I had found the 2 coins already in the folder - - one in the 1894-O spot and the other in the 1896-P spot.
Today, while looking at the coins again, I noticed the 1894 was in the 1894 hole vs the 1894-O, but the notation I had made was in the 1894-O spot. And now I am a bit confused & curious........ According to my outdated 1998 Blackbook guide to US coins, the 1894 (mintage .1 million) ran $165/$240/$375/$1110/$9800 in ABP/F12/EF40/MS60/MS65, while the 1894-O (mintage 1.75 million) ran $13/$22/$50/$700/$28000.
Obviously, there'd have been a big incentive to "alter" an 1894-O to an 1894! The Blackbook has an asterisk after its entry for 1895 for just that possibility, in fact.
My coin (I will have to try to get a picture of it and upload it here) looks to be in EF+ condition, but has a "shine" to it and a bit more wear at the bottom reverse (on the letters DOLL of "One Dollar") - - almost as if it had been rubbed/sanded slightly. And there appears to POSSIBLY be a remnant of a shiny bit of solder where the "O" mintmark should be (and then sanded-down?). Maybe my mind is running overtime on this one, or maybe someone did alter it?
I'm wondering if, sometime in the past, whomever left the coin in the folder might have though that was the case, which is why I found & notated the coin as having been in the 1894-O spot. And maybe sometime later, as I was going thru my folders without paying any attention to mintages & values, I saw no mintmark & moved it to the 1894 slot.
So we have a mystery wrapped-up in an enigma............. do I have a valid 1894 and am just seeing things, or do I really have an altered 1894-O made to look like an 1894? AND........ what would the values be of each in EF or better condition today?
I'll try to have my son take pictures of it later today to try to upload for everyone's opinions.
Thanks!
- - Dave
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Comments
If there is any possibility of this being a real 94(P) it should get certified if you intend to sell, as that's the only way you'll realize anywhere near what it is worth.
If it is an altered 94-O with a removed mintmark, my gut says the best thing to do is just take the hit (it didn't cost you anything, after all) and destroy it or render it otherwise unsaleable so nobody ever gets stuck with it unwittingly. Remember, these little metal circles usually outlast us.
<< <i>sometime in the past, whomever left the coin in the folder might have though that was the case >>
That assumption sounds likely. I'd still try getting some pics of it and based on the opinions if it's possibly a P it would be worth getting it in a "genuine" holder.