Judge the quality of my first Morgan
dragonwalker
Posts: 9 ✭
I posted previously about being new to Morgan coins. I thought I’d post a picture of the coin I discussed and the first Morgan I got at a local coin show, it’s a 1878-CC graded MS63 by PCGS. I want to ask people’s opinion of what they think about that grade for this coin and why, and ideally, to elaborate if they think it’s graded high, low, or just right for the grade, or even if it should be another grade. I’m trying to decide if I should use this coin as a good example of a coin I have to base what a Morgan MS63 should be. 
1
Comments
I think it is graded correctly for a CC dollar. Go to coin shows, club meetings and look at other dates and grades and acclimate yourself to Morgan dollar grades. Do not base all MS 63 dollars on this one example
The rev is nice but the obv is rather baggy. CC Morgans are commonly seen with lots of marks due to how coins had to be transported out of Carson City so CC Morgans tend to get a bit of leniency. My personal grade would be MS62.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
One thing we can only guess at is the quality of the luster. My first impression upon seeing the obverse was MS62+ while the reverse looked like MS63+. I then read your post and see it is graded MS63, which is something that appears reasonable. However, even if it is reasonable, it doesn't mean it is necessarily acceptable.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I think 63 is the right grade but it’s on the low end to me. Most CC Morgans in your range are plentiful. Take your time and be discerning. You are doing a good job here asking for feedback. Bear in mind that people here are likely to grade conservatively on average,
What I do is go to the GreatCollections Auction Archive and select the coin I'm interested in and look at 1 grade down and 1 grade up and only year starting 2024. I say this because that's when I see when there are GreatPhoto's for most the coins starting in 2024. I then look at a bunch to try and gauge what made a coin get MS-XX grade.
From what I can see in the images, the coin looks like a low-end MS 63 example to me.
When pursuing coins such as this (with high populations) there should be numerous opportunities to acquire them. So you can afford to be patient. That said, I know from personal experience, as well as from having observed and interacted with other collectors for decades, that it can be extremely difficult to be patient.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
+1
Be patient there are plenty of Morgans out there.
I dont want to knock your coin but you did ask why its the grade it is.
The obverse has taken alot of hits to it.
Fortunately for you its an 1878 CC so when you go to sell it you will be able to find buyers. That doesn't mean you won't take a loss depending on what you paid.
The reverse looks pretty nice.
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
Successful BST transactions with: Namvet Justindan Mattniss RWW olah_in_MA
Dantheman984 Toyz4geo SurfinxHI greencopper RWW bigjpst bretsan MWallace logger7