1878 CC Morgan Dollar - Grade It!

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.