1883 S Morgan Need Help On Grade

This coin in areas looks mirror in luster in other areas it has alot of very light abrasions there are hints of feathers on upper part of breast and the strike is quit high and bold, I was think of sending to ANACS for certification but don't want to waste time,money if worse than AU in condition. That's why I posted it.

Thanks to everyone who replies

There is a bit of remaining luster in the protected areas around the date, stars, and legend which puts it into EF-45 territory. However, the baggy and hairlined fields and the over-bright, dipped look are negatives that will hurt the value. Very likely this coin would get a details grade from NGC or ANACS and a Genuine rating from PCGS. Certification IMO would be a waste of money.

That was one heck of a good deal. Please, though, forget whatever you read about taking a vinyl eraser to a coin....

I welcome all opinions but please back them up with facts. I am new to collecting coins but I an certainly not stupid, I go by the data I am able to find, I purchased this coin from a individual for 25.00 it was black like someone had left in in oil for 50 years, I found out dipping can serious damage to a coin if done incorrectly, however a vinyl eraser causes no damage to silver coins, I'm not the one who put the data out there go find it for yourself Google, yahoo it whatever and send a reply to the website that there data is wrong. As far as this coin goes cleaning it made me and extra 125.00 just today! if in fact however it destroys the coin then experts like yourself need to put the data out there. A soft vinyl eraser is used to remove patina. AND I QUOTE- (Vinyl erasers do not contain abrasive particles, compared to the 'normal' erasers and cause no damage to surface of coin they remove patina and other stains from surface of coin once this is done coin should be air-sealed. (This is found all over the web).

Well I can only judge the coin pictured and it looks to be unnaturally shiny and harshly cleaned.

The damage may certainly be from an older cleaning but, in any case, this is not a $150 coin.

PS: Never trust advice you find using random web searches. Many are geared toward consumers who want to "shine up" a drawer full of worthless modern coins and there is a huge amount of outright misinformation. As a general rule, NEVER clean a collectible. If you do find a coin that is a key date but is encased in "gunk", you can send it off to Numismatic Conservation Services or - if you absolutely MUST do something yourself - try soaking it some Acetone since it is non-reactive with the coin surface.

Any type of "friction cleaning" regardless of whether the cloth/eraser/thumb/etc... used is marking or non-marking is just horrible. Vinyl Eraser = Terrible Advice.

Agree a coin will lose at least 50% of its value when cleaned mildly.

For harsh cleaning, a complete loss of numismatic value is possible since no collector anywhere will want the item. For those coins, they are reduced to bullion metal value.

Yes there are exceptions for extremely rare coins that are sought after such as the 1893-S Morgan. You could run over one of those with a truck and it would still be extremely collectible.

For a common date, however, a harsh cleaning pretty much obliterates its numismatic value.

thanks for your kind words... but we are all here to lend a hand an share our learning experiences to you all...I have found coins in the past, just like you have and thought..."FOR YEARS SO MANY HAVE BEEN CLEANING COINS" by the way dealers have for many many years...yet they know how to preserve without stripping away the genuine metal surfaces which improperly done will lead to a coin with obvious problems....leaving a cool rare coin in the dust for true value....I tried to "lightly enhance" its luster only to find some months later....the change from my "CLEANING" went from WOW....to OH NO.....
One good point to remember is...Grand Ma's silver cutlery set of knives forks and spoons: THEY ARE SPECIAL.....we don't use them every day.....only on rare occasion's do we break them out ....to find they are somewhat tinted blackened? OH YEA its called TARNISH....
so we run to the store to buy TARNEX...and BAM baby spanking new they look...
every one around the table is at AWE on how these old family heirlooms loom brand new.....AND THEY DON"T LOOK CLEANED..or having discoloration any where...I believe this is because whether its plated or silver...its silver content on the surface is .999% silver.......
one must remember that a "COIN IS 90% SILVER"
And this is the dilemma...the 10% copper .....
It reacts and combines chemically with the cleaning solution leaving ugly spotty results , my meaning is that
as it removes the crap or toning on the top., the rest of the coin is also affected evenly...so as the whole of the coin has microscopicly erased...you will now see after the cleaning the general surface is a WOW...the toned areas surfaces are now not at the same , they are now at the original surface level, and the general wow un-toned surface
have lost slight molicules of surface level.....
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? what it means..is you will see a color difference....the uneveness of color from the previous untoned areas to the "cleaned" TONED areas "DO NOT MATCH" I write to you MDA today not because you cleaned your coin....
but because we need PHOTO'S of cleaned coins people can see so the can see the tell tail signs of "Cleaned" or altered coins....This is because there are so many BLAST WHITE COINS on the market now...and have SEEN for the last 40 years......PLUS...SO I
want top make a statement to start another thread with the help of all Coin World to not just speak about cleaned coins but to produce photo's of coins that have been cleaned so we can really see into and as we search for coins for our collections we are ARMED with the knowledge of knowing a cleaned from a good or problem coin we can add to our collection....
MDA you have sparked my mind to a great cause...
I thank you.... many of us are aware of these things
BUT.....its time for EXAMPLES to enlighten the masses..
as these are personal EXPERIENCES ...we learn from buying coins that look good, and finding they have "problems"
THIS WORD "PROBLEMS"....is very coin specific.. as most of what ever you collect/and find can be a problem coin and yet we collect thinking we are just collecting coins we like and they "look good to me" however at some point the money will take its place.....I spent $1,000 on a hobby that I can only collect $50 bucks...I won't go into the hobbiest VS collector/investor side of the spectrum...this issue reflects all of us.....
AGAIN I thank you MDA......you have brought about a very OVERLOOKED yet PERPETUALLY ACTIVE issue that concerns us all.
I will consult with my friends and any I can reach to have a great "VISUAL" understanding of COINS that have been cleaned... so when you go to ebay or any other site ...
YOU WILL KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR AN HOW TO RECOGNIZE
Coins that have been cleaned....this is a long over due discussion and "exampleless" thought..Left for the individual TO FIGURE IT OUT FOR THEMSELVES....
FROM this..or lack of it..we meager coin collector's
"TRUST" in what is represented.....or stated.......
yet in observation we can see if the coins bee cleaned or altered.....