Care To 2nd Guess NGC On This 1881-O?

Sure looks like MS-65 and the strike is strong for a New Orleans Morgan. The value of this date jumps about 8X when you go from MS-64 to MS-65 so I expect NGC won't award the '65 unless the coin is very solid for the grade. They may also be hyper-aware about cleaning or "altered surface" problems.

I'd say MS-65 based on these images.

Thats for sure... Once you click the second set of pictures, the image is HUGE.

NGC graded this MS63

I have to agree solid MS64 maybe 65

NGC gave it an MS63. The point I'm hoping to illustrate/make is that in my limited (2 month) experience in watching these Morgans and trying my best to grade, I've gotten the impression that NGC is more conservative in their grading than PCGS. Whereas the general concensus seems to be just the opposite. The grading all of your assigned to it seem to support that. Several even said MS65. Am I wrong in my estimation? The question to me is why does NGC seem to undergrade? I'm sure some of you more experienced graders have some opinions. But the reason I did this post was I was looking at this coin and felt surely it MUST be better than the 63 NGC gave it. Well, nuff said.

I think it's important to keep in mind that the third party graders are just giving another opinion of what they think the grade is. It's very subjective and they may have reasons for giving it that grade. It would be nice to have an included explanation of why it received the grade it did, at least for the higher tiers. I think once you get to the MS stage, because of the potential for tremendous increases in value for each grade, they will grade more conservatively.

I agree that is why I said I wouldn't be willing to go higher based on the photo's. The larger pictures are larger but do nothing for the picture, it actually made it more blury and harder to grade from. From the pictures I would say it could be a MS-64 (as I said) but could also be a nice MS-63 (which is what I would rather have, unless I was selling). Now NGC and PCGS has the + grades and this one may now become a MS-63+ but I really doubt it would ever make 65. I would be willing to pay a small premium for a nice MS-63 over the regular 63 price and if selling I wouldn't be surprised if thats what happened

Agree I think it is important in photos not to have any "dark areas" since luster breaks and chatter are difficult to assess.

For this coin, in particular, the left side and cheek may be more impaired than what the photos show.

before I sent it in I would consider if its worth having it regraded. Would it have to come back as MS-65 for it to be worth it or if it comes back as 63 is the coin worth the cost of having it regraded? If it would have to come back as a MS-65 then I don't think I would resubmit it myself because I think the chances of that happening are pretty slim, if it can come back as a MS-64 and be worth the extra cost then its a 50/50 chance and you would have to ask yourself if its worth the risk. If you are going to send it in and you are sure there is nothing that could possibly cause it to get a no grade then I would crack it out before sending it in just because from personal experience that is how I have had the best luck with an upgrade over sending them in slab intact. Just be careful when you do it so you don't do any damage to the coin that would cause it to not grade at all