1883 O Morgan

Looks like lots of luster left under toning/reverse...I would hate to be the one to dip it first.

Tbar, I see your quandary. You can go either way on this. First, it's not a high value Morgan even in Mint State, so you would lose little, if anything if you dipped it. But second, on the other hand, it's still a Morgan and appears to be uncirculated albeit New Orleans Mint's tendency for weak strikes. They aren't making Morgans anymore and if you dip it, it's done for in the collector trade. My own feeling is to leave it alone, use it as an educational tool. You can find a better 83-O at very low cost for your Morgan collection.

[Editorial: Why do so many O-Morgans end up in this Coin Grading Practice forum anyway? They're easily the hardest Morgans to grade from images and are the root cause of many battles here. Ask Metalman about his 1888-O... ]

I believe it to be uncirculated as mentioned earlier and as I gather you suspect. Even though it's a typical New Orleans weak strike with lack of detail in Liberty's hairline over her ear, but with relatively sharp feather detail on the Eagle's breast, there are just no signs of even light circulation that I can detect from the images. No circulation-type rim dings, generally clear fields, and only a few of what appear to be bag marks (not circulation marks) on Liberty's cheek. As it is now and presuming the toning is not caused by "environmental damage" (a favorite reason for bodybagging Morgans by the top TPGs since it is so nebulous), it might slab at MS-62 or -63.

In sum, don't dip it.

Ah, it's good to be back to grading Morgans, even if it's only for a short time.

Fred

From the pics, I'll go ms63.
Dip it? Why? It has that original, thick-skinned look that would be lost forever with a dipping.
The really neat thing with coins like this one is the more you look at them, the more they have to show you. I like it!