1881 Morgan Dollar

I'd agree with scmoore61, but it's a stretch, in my opinion. The reason is, one expects 1881-P Morgans to show excellent strikes. Therefore, you'd grade them a little more tightly than, for instance, a 1904-O which would be expected to be flatly struck.

That said, even though there's noticeable wear above the ear and on the eagle's breast (the first places a Morgan wears), there isn't much wear in the next places to look. The top edges of the wings look good, and the upper part of the hair isn't unduly worn. An EF coin would show more wear towards the bottom of the hair, near the neck, as well.

AU50 probably describes it.

If you're buying it, it's an EF-45. If you're selling it's AU-50!

ok this might make me sound pretty dumb but which side is the obverse. I'm noticing a lot of the grading pics and other things I've posted have had replies that they think it may have been cleaned. How would I spot this because I know I have never cleaned them. Could this just be the way my pictures are turning out?

Malissadawn, the reason I believe the coin to be cleaned is twofold. First, the obverse is covered in what appears to be hairlines. Hairlines are often caused by cleaning with a somewhat abrasive substance and are the marks left behind. The second reason is more difficult to put into words, the coin has the 'look' of a cleaned coin. The only toning is that left in the difficult to reach places (tight in to the stars, date, etc). A 100+ year old silver coin should not be blast white (think of your silverware), at the very least it should have a 'thick skin' (which means it is not tarnished to the eye, but does have a thin layer of oxidation).
Here are a couple of pictures of known cleaned coins that have a very similar look to them as yours do (especially the seated half-dime), and shows rather well the hairlines I am refering to. Hope this helps.
BTW, I grew up just outside of Scarberia in Pickering. Miss the Leafs and the good beer, but love the weather down here in So Cal!




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thanks for all the information and the welcome! I can't say I'm that let down that it's clean because I buy Morgan dollars just because I like them not really for value. still I do think I can now watch out for the edges and lettering being dirtier than the rest but not sure I will really pick up on the "look of being cleaned". I love this site. All these years just nuying stuff not really knowing what I was buying and now I have somewhere to go with my millions of questions.

thanks so much everyone!