1924 Peace Dollar

AU-55 details cleaned

It's tough to tell from the pictures. It could be a dog or it might have some nice cartwheel luster and golden toning. The details are strong. Technically, it appears to have AU58-MS62 details. In hand, I might say it's worth bullion.

I based my assessment of cleaning on the scuffy looking marks in the reverse above the eagle where it looks as if the luster has been disturbed as well as in and around the date, but if you tell me that the luster is unbroken, then it's a trick of the eye/photo. I based my assessment of wear on the rub I see in her hair, but if you told me the coin looked uncirculated and displayed only bag or roll marks and stray nicks, I'd accept that too.

No worries, we're on the same page. I am only pointing out the difficulty of grading based on a photo over the internet. I have a lot of experience collecting Peace dollars (I like them better than Morgans actually) but I haven't even looked over my own collection in a while so my grading skills are a tad rusty.

A lot of people know about the striking problems of the 1921 high relief, but I've seen striking problems in every year of the issue. The reverse lettering can vary a lot, I guess because so much pressure was used in the central devices. I've seen uncirculated coins where the letters are struck so lightly you'd swear you were looking at a VG coin if you based your assessment on the lettering alone. There's all kinds of variations in strike quality on the hair, the date and the craggy rock, the feathers etc. This one factor can make it very hard to assign a grade, but you can often get that to work in your favor. If you know in advance what to look for, you can often find better coins selling for less.