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grading confusion
cointoss
Posts: 4
I'm having difficulty understanding grading criteria on occasional coins I've viewed on E-bay. The latest example being an 1894-O Morgan graded MS-63 by PCGS. It almost appears as if a hammer and chisel was used on both obverse & reverse. How does this coin rate an MS-63?
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<< <i>this is the only PCGS 63 on ebay FWIW >>
Coin seems ok to me for a 63. If you want stickered and well struck be prepared to pay very strong money.
$300 over price guide is 5%. It would be no different if a seller were trying to get another $5 out of you on a $100 1881-s. If you want a 64 then spend $11,000. If you want to pay less than settle for a beat up 62 at $2300.
This date almost never comes well struck so in this price range don't expect a coin of 1881-s quality. CAC has only stickered 8 coins in the 61/62 grades so you can forget about finding one of these cheap. And with only 19
coins in 63 (approx 3-5% of the population) that's no picnic either. 66% more coins are available in the 64 grade than 61-63 combined (45 coins). A tough coin to find "all there" in 61-63 grades.
At auction, generic 63 coins have been fetching $3700-$4300. So on that basis, the coin might well be overpriced. One can always make an offer. In the raw coin days, you could sometimes pick these up as AU's due the strike.
<< <i>If you're viewing MS63 1894-0 Morgans on Ebay you should already be well versed in any grading variations....especially considering they run $5K+. If anything, this date is graded fairly strict at the MS63 and higher level. >>
Barndog link = someone screwed up on that one.
check the reverse. ouch.
Coin seem right to me. That is how weak strikes look.
<< <i>
<< <i>If you're viewing MS63 1894-0 Morgans on Ebay you should already be well versed in any grading variations....especially considering they run $5K+. If anything, this date is graded fairly strict at the MS63 and higher level. >>
Barndog link = someone screwed up on that one.
check the reverse. ouch. >>
The reverse is the overall stronger side imo.
otherwise the obverse has far more fang marks ....
full disclosure -> Imma n00b