Luster Brushed Aluminum Vs Shiny Surface

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,804
Ray411 New Member United States 21 Posts	Posted 12/29/2006 02:15 am I'm still learning how to grade coins and bought a few books and had a question mainly on Morgan, Peace and Walkers. When it comes to luster should that give the appearance that a coin kinda has a polished aluminum look similar to how brushed aluminum mags may be on a car? What I'm trying to get at is sometimes I send a Morgan in that has a very shiny overall appearance kinda like sterling silver (not just the fields like a DMPL but devices as well) and the coin has almost no marks on it or any frosting on it. Usually this kind of coin comes back like a low MS62. Then I have a coin that while it clearly has visible bagmarks it does have that aluminum frosty non-shiny appearance I guess you can call this luster and this type of coin usually grades higher. So if a coin is truly uncirculated what makes it not have that kind of frostly luster? Did it lose it's luster overtime cause of constant handling, never had it from the mint the way it was struck, etc. Also I noticed the more a coin may have this kind of frosty luster the more noticable bagmarks or any type of marks appear. While a shiny chrome-like Morgan doesn't show marks as noticable. It also seems that when you get a MS65 Morgan slabbed from a lower company like PCI or SEGS while the coin surfaces may be very clean of bagmarks there seldom is that kind of frosty luster and cause of this will probably be graded much lower if sent to one of the top 4 companies. Any advice on this? Report this Post to the Staff

Metalman Pillar of the Community United States 7123 Posts	Posted 12/29/2006 03:02 am To Be sure Luster plays a role in the grade of the coin,, no luster can be one of two things either the coin is circulated or it has been agressively dipped in acid which has removed the microscopic flow lines which are responsible for luster in the first place. Morgans are a very intertesting coin since each mint has particular characteristics which can be present on mint state coins and the Luster that they display simply decided by which mint they were produced at. Luster can also vary greatly within the same mint based on die state ,pressure and other factors ,, storage and environment can also play a part in the overall Luster displayed by any particular coin. I will start a picture post and the rest of the Morgan guys can add photo's to help Illustrate . Just be patient waiting for posts everyone has different hours and it may take a day or two for the thread to develope. Both O mints , Illustrate two very differing luster appearances on very similarly graded coins. Rick Report this Post to the Staff
stmpcol Valued Member United States 223 Posts	Posted 12/29/2006 11:03 am Nice coins Rick, but which one is the preferred to own ? Report this Post to the Staff
Metalman Pillar of the Community United States 7123 Posts	Posted 12/29/2006 12:43 pm Hi stmpcol Which one do you like the best ? I prefer the frosty one, others will prefer the more clear one. Im far far from any type of a Morgan mania collector, I only collect the O mint coins and have but a few,, there are others here very much more qualified to answer which type may be prefered by the majority. Rick Report this Post to the Staff
Ray411 New Member United States 21 Posts	Posted 12/29/2006 1:28 pm Thanks for the advice and pictures. Please post more if you like. Yes this shows what I'm asking about. Coin #1 has still some slight frosting on the cheek while coin #2 appears to have no frosting on the cheek but the rest of the coins appears to have more luster. But this is where I get a little confused on. If luster/frosting is created by the pressure of the dies wouldn't all coins lose it first by handling on it's highest points like coin #2 has. So then how could coin #1 still have luster only on the cheek and not on the rest of the coin. Or it has nothing to do with handling over time but how the coin was originally made in the first place by giving more pressure on high points vs low points or vice of versa on a coin to coin basis. I think if I sent these coins in #2 would be graded higher cause I have coins like #1 and they don't fair to well. The problem I found is while coins like #1 show more hairlines due to it's more shiny service it seems frosty coins like #2 easily show more bagmarks. So it almost seems like a no win situation unless you have coin with much luster/frosted all over like #1 but has very little bagmarks? Report this Post to the Staff
Silver Dollar Valued Member United States 287 Posts	Posted 01/01/2007 10:27 pm Grading is subject to each persons perspective, so what you like or think may not be what the other person likes. Collect the coins graded according to what you like and don't collect coins because someone else thinks they are the best. I collect coins for myself and not someone else. Report this Post to the Staff
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