Your opinions on this Morgan that came back Detail
goldfixer21
Posts: 102 ✭✭✭
This was sent back as Surfaces Smoothed. Can you tell from these pics what they are seeing?
0
Comments
It is tough to photograph, but it is a worst PL, at best DMPL, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand the Details grading
The only thing I can tell you is that it definitely looks "funky". It might help to have more even illumination in the photos.
What’s going on with these somewhat parallel marks here and here ?
That little bump at 6:00 on th obverse rim?
Im gonna say by the neck and the hair area looks to have that PL look from buffing.Also from your pictures its tough with the light angle etc
Those are fingerprints on the holder
Hmmm I don’t know then. Sorry.
I've tried to take better pics with no luck. I have a couple of others that I have questions about as well. I will try tomorrow to get better shots of them
The highlighted areas do look off to me. I am obviously not holding the coin but I don’t think they are fingerprints on the holder. If they are, wipe the holder and post new pics. The coin looks borderline PL to me and would grade 63 at best which would be worth about $45-$70? What grade were you hoping for?
I bought over 100 UNC Morgans a while back , and sent in 5 that appeared to be PL's. One came back PL, one DMPL, and 3 came back Details, two were altered surfaces, and this one Smoothed surfaces. I'm trying to learn what to look for to avoid sending in ones that I shouldn't.
nm
Based on the pictures, I would have guessed cleaned. A coin which has had its surfaces smoothed (to remove flaws or damage) typically displays unnatural looking surfaces and the coin definitely has an odd appearance.
I would suggest examining the surfaces to look for an unusual texture to them and signs of unusual/diminished luster.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
@goldfixer21 said:
I bought over 100 UNC Morgans a while back , at a great price, and sent in 5 that appeared to be PL's. One came back PL, one DMPL, and 3 came back Details, two were altered surfaces, and this one Smoothed surfaces. I'm trying to learn what to look for to avoid sending in ones that I shouldn't.
I'm in the hmm group.
I looked at it under my bench microscope, and there are definitely parallel lines on the obverse in a few areas. Also, up next to the left side of the neck, the mirror finish breaks about a half a millimeter from the neck
Those pics are awesome and really show that the surfaces are not original. Nice work!
Great photos. I see the problem ... the surface has been altered. IMO.
To bad that happened, I hate to see anyone get ripped like that. Until I saw the close-up I had wondered if someone might have tried to touch-up the surface using old film /x-ray developer solution, I can remember dipping copper pennies in them and Silver Plate them, and have heard of this techniche used on silver coins, it's use to be known as painting a coin.
Fighting the Fight for 11 Years with the big "C" - Never Ever Give Up!
Member PCGS Open Forum board 2002 - 2006 (closed end of 2006) Current board since 2006 Successful trades with many members, over the past two decades, never a bad deal.
The fields look kind of weird, as has been pointed out already, but there are also no marks left in the smoothed field, while the cheek is pretty hacked up.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
I'm amazed that someone could do anything to the surface of this coin without causing any uneven areas around the lettering and bust. This coin, and the others I purchased with it, belonged to an older guy that passed away. Every coin was in a stapled 2 X 2 cardboard coin holder, and had obviously been in them for a number of years.
Thanks for the closeups, I thought it had been buffed, but it really shows in the magnified pictures....Too bad. Cheers, RickO
Nice detective work and question answered.
The face has unnatural appearance.
WHIZZED
Collector, occasional seller
Almost. This coin has been severely BUFFED. Whizzed coins have a ridge on one side of their design elements. I see none. However, the patch of parallel lines by the neck is a characteristic of whizzing. No matter , the coin has been destroyed.
Note: IMO, this coin is NOT "SMOOTHED" (a very stupid word dreamed up by ancient collectors and auction houses to downplay the damage on a coin whose field has been severely tooled to remove corrosion or other defects!). This word did not even exist in numismatics when I was collecting.
You can tell when cartwheeling them usually if the surface is altered. Take the ones that graded and compare and see if you can tell the difference.
Of course, neither did terms like MS64, clad, and Lincoln Cent, right?
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Collector, occasional seller
What very brief description would you suggest instead of “smoothed”, in order to say the equivalent of “damage on a coin whose field has been severely tooled to remove corrosion or other defects”? Repaired? Tooled? Other?
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.