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 Replies: 20 / Views: 4,993 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
Seller claims this 1880 Morgan dollar is fresh from an inheritance and has not been out of the house in forty years. Looking at the coin, I believe it. Seller does not have much feedback -- sub 50 -- and had a few other coins listed along with some silverware, etc. Not really sure what to think about it. It's an 1880 Morgan dollar, and you can see some iridescence remains on both sides, but it has toned over so darkly -- would you call this "end-stage toning?" -- that you can't tell much of anything at all. Seller's reverse photo is a bit blurry. So my questions would be: - Real or counterfeit? - Cleaned/details or just very heavy original toning? - Dip it or leave it alone? - How would you grade it, assuming it's genuine? I look at a LOT of Morgan dollars and this one is pretty much one of the darkest toners I've ever come across.   Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis Edited by paralyse
02/04/2017 12:41 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3479 Posts |
I really like the dark toning on this one. Others will confirm authenticity but for god sakes leave it be.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11899 Posts |
My question is why do you want it? Doesn't look unc to me based on the flatness over the ear.
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: " It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website: https://fairfaxcoins.com |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12057 Posts |
Flatness over the ear is typical weak strike indicator, which is borne out by the weak breast feathers on the reverse. As for "why do I want it?" - Gambling is fun, especially for $5 above melt - It might look a lot better in hand (or it might not) - 1880 is a less common date in the series - I collect interesting Morgan dollars and this fully qualifies as "interesting" with the very dark toning and underlying iridescent areas of rainbow color. - Like me, it just has to be different than everyone else. No blast white here, no sir. :P I just pulled out my 30+ year old blue Whitman Lincoln Cent folders tonight to move the coins into my shiny new Dansco and was quite amused to find that the 3 steel cents I put in it 10-20 years ago that were full BU at the time now have really awesome rainbow toning on both sides but some sort of white powdery stuff around the edges and a black area on one of the coins. This might bother a lot of people, but to me, it's super-awesome, since I haven't looked at these albums since the early 90s. As an added bonus, my 2 Jefferson blue Whitman folders had almost all of the coins held in by scotch tape, which resulted in my run of Jeffs from 1955 or so to 1989 all being beautiful tape toners. They're now in their new Dansco as well. A little acetone takes off the residue but leaves the toning. To each their own. Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis Edited by paralyse
02/04/2017 01:06 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1963 Posts |
The flat areas are just areas that were not struck up. It looks genuine to me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1963 Posts |
Yes, it is a details coin. It has been cleaned.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
I'm a fan of natural toning and say for $5 over spot, it's worth the gamble.
In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
If these are seller's pictures, they are too poor to make a decision to buy.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3210 Posts |
For considering what you paid Adam, id leave it be. Post better pics when you get it. The obverse may need a light dip, but the reverse isn't that badly toned.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Other than being wiped at some point, it looks ok to me.
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
Agree with the wipe, rather than a dip. Looks genuine, but pictures are so blurry/dark on some key areas of the design elements that I wouldn't hazard a grade.
For $5 over, I can't imagine hesitating to grab this. For absolute CERTAIN do NOT dip or rub or clean this in any way. It's a unique tone and is actually one of the strong points of this example.
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
18706 Posts |
prior dipping and not properly rinsed and improperly stored over many years. AU details
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Agree AU from what I can make out.
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
11922 Posts |
I would think AU-55 from those pictures (and most likely Details).
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36878 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
Good news is, the toning is actually beautiful. Bad news is, I can't photograph it, but I'll attempt it here in a minute.
Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis |
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Replies: 20 / Views: 4,993 |
Posted 02/04/2017 12:55 am
