1878 CC Morgan Dollar - Grade It!

missed this one Odee

all the CC morgans were well struck up. the breast is a little weak but it could be a late strike. lots of bag marks on the cheek and obv fields. I'm not seeing signs of circulation. I'm with NS that the coin is MS. I'm concerned that you photography is washing out the luster on your coins as they look very similar this makes it difficult to determine how much luster is remaining, if there might have been a dip or it can wash out light circulation indicators. I think this may be due to using overhead light. one of the most difficult grades in my opinion is a high end AU58 coin and a lower end MS coin.

your coin could be a slider but imo a MS62+ or low end MS63 coin based on the reverse photo. MS63 grade encompasses the most number of defects than any other grade. typically a MS62 coin would have considerably more hits, marks, scratches etc than this one exhibits so I'm at a lowe end MS63 coin. what I mean by that is the coin may grade at MS63 but the value would be reduced slightly.

on a side note, it looks like a finger or palm print, very light, in front of the mouth. doesn't affect anything

i agree w/NumismaticsFTW dont post your comments about your coin as it can sway folks opinions. when you get the comments then compare it what your thoughts were. that the best way to learn

MS-61, maybe 62. Not seeing the wear that others are seeing. Unfortunately, the marks and scrapes are in key focal areas, thus the 61/62 grade.

This came back UNC details, questionable surfaces, obverse. I suspected it might come back details, so not disappointed or shocked. I do find it interesting the obverse was called out as questionable surface, what's interesting to me is to details a coin on something questionable but not definite. Maybe I just don't understand grading.

AU-55
Edit: I posted after the reveal, but I didn't see it until now.
No way is this Morgan an UNC., the rim on this coin proves that...

CAC is going to be tougher to slab a coin. probably not the best choice for a higher end CC Morgan as if you intend on selling the coin in the future most folks just look at the slab and dont grade the coin themselves. it was a roll of the dice. I'm not hearing good things about CAC for grading. I think they should have just stuck to what they were doing.

one thing I noticed is the blotchy toning around all of the stars and letters on the obv. this may have led CAC to think something was done to the coin but they couldnt decide if it was cleaned or not or it was borderline. they may have thought that the surfaces were not original when looking at that and the subdued broken luster as well as the area near K2-3 obv and along the top of the cap to make the questionable surfaces call.

would PCGS or NGC have seen it differently? hard to tell but they probably would have came to a similar conclusion. the may have called it UNC details (cleaned) designation. not much difference but I think I would rather have a cleaned designation rather than questionable color but thats just me. its still a high end CC coin but obviously doesn't have the value a straight coin would have.

The example looks like it has been dipped, but the dark areas around the date and UN would not come clean. The TPG's do not typically call out a UNC coin for being dipped.

100% agree with PZ, for higher end coins, I'd go PCGS and then depending on the grade and overall quality of the coin, consider sending to CAC for a bean.

It's all a risk/reward proposition. The key element is the actual objective evaluation of the coin, if there was a such a thing, and on the grade required for it to be financially worthwhile to submit in the first place. Once graded then whether the coin may be considered choice for the grade and worthy of a bean.