1885-O Morgan Dollar - Grade Opinions

OK, teaching moment regarding luster and reflective surfaces, which are mutually exclusive features. We know how microscopic irregularities in the fields of a coin cause luster, while the smoother surfaces of a freshly-polished die impart reflectivity instead. Here's how it looks in the real world. Two coins posted below, same grading service, same grade, shot less than 2 months apart at Heritage, very likely under the exact same camera (see westcoin's thread in Photography about having toured Heritage's imaging section) and the lighting is the same (important point). One is nicely lustrous, the other DMPL.

CB's second set of images caused me to avoid saying, "No way it's PL," but his first set of images had me convinced anyway. This is why:









This is also an illustration of how careful you need to be about deciding on reflectivity from images alone.