well I am sure a few people saw this on the Bay. I spent a good 2 hours looking over this thing.
1st I think the toning is Original. The reason is the envelope, it has in pencil written $ 3.50 on it that dates the package to around 1961 or so.
2nd The fields look solid with little to no chatter.
3rd The strike shows nice breast feathers and very good detail of the talons and legs of the Eagle. (This is not common on 1888 O
Morgan dollars)
4th The light areas on the OB or Obverse you see on textile toned coins as well as paper. This area is normally in direct contact with the covering and is not ware.
5th Most lighting used to take a photo one see's on E Bay will kill off luster, this is even more prevalent when shooting toned coins. Always be aware of how a coin is shot. There are many sellers that claim PL or proof like coins as well as DMPL's raw. Almost all are not PL or DMPL "Deep Mirror Proof Like". They are shot at angles that commonly hide the normal cartwheels of a Semi PL coin.
To have a coin PL or DMPL the coins fields must have "No Cartwheeling" Many also play with color contrast. I good rule of thumb is, if the background is off color or a white background is dark the coin is not what it seems.
6th This seller has a 14 day return policy, should my assessment not be correct and it fails to meet my grade expectation I can send it back. Keep in mind that while sending a coin back is an option, one should only use it if something is not right like a rub or a wipe.
Based on the return policy and the sellers feedback I put my bid at a solid 65 base (won it for far less) on the above information. If when I get the coin in hand and it has "dead luster" or wipes I will send it back. Many sellers do not really analyze there coins so if he missed something understand that it happens. Many sellers will post 100 sales at a time, so as a buyer you must keep this in mind when leaving feedback. If the seller has a bunch of sales like the one you bought or won with Doctored photos then the seller is just scamming coin collectors IMHO. Dead luster is killer of many nice clean coins. Most MS-65 coins and above have to show that they are a fresh coin with good luster.
The balancing act on this buy is knowing what the grading company will look at as well as knowing this year and mint marks history. 1882 O/S are almost always poorly struck as is the 1888 O. Unlike the 1880 S Minted coins that all seem to have been struck by a Semi. Most 1880 O, 1882 O and 1888 O coins suffer from lack of solid hair above the ear and a smooth eagles breast, where as if you had one struck like the normal MS-64 in the 1880 S that look on an 1888 O would grade at MS-66 or so. So a well struck coin in this year will carry a grade point up... 9 out of 10 times if the rest of the coin is right.
Well I hope my grade assessment is correct when I get this one in hand, I have the coin as a solid MS-65. If you feel I missed something feel free to chime in as grading is done with 3 grader's.
In the ladder 2 photos I see the photos as over exposed, the seller added light to get the color to pop, and the aperture setting was not set properly.
Posted 02/24/2015 10:55 am
