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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,739 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
673 Posts |
I will post the grade assigned to this coin by the Shop Owner and my comments in a day or two, for now- have at it, and good luck ! EDIT:
I hope no one gets the impression I am trying to trick them  - but this was an exercise in grading for sure ! I hope we can all learn from this as I have been doing over the past year or so working at the Shop.
First let me say that the surfaces of this coin are completely original - no cleaning , abrasive or otherwise. The marks that resemble scrapes across the mid obverse and mid reverse are the remains of what the un-struck portion of the planchet looks like. The entire planchet probably looked like that before it was struck.
The weakness of this strike does impede the grade in my opinion, but it is uncirculated nonetheless. I was surprised at how weak the strike was, I have seen weakly struck Morgans before- but not quite this bad. Good eye Jaobler, biokemist, and SuperDave. The packaged grade is MS-63, and I agree with SuperDave- a little more squeeze and this one is a 64.
This is a tougher coin in MS grades- an AU can be had for 30 bucks or so, MS-63 is over 250- MS-64 is over 600 ! I would hate to undergrade a coin like this
If I can get pics, There is another O minted coin at the shop that is pretty much the opposite as far as strike goes of this one. Pretty well struck (For an O coin) - but this one is even more scarce (and expensive !) in MS grades. Stay Tuned     Edited by InfiniteInterest
04/28/2009 9:03 pm
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
This coin has been harshly cleaned with some kind of abrasive tool. That's too bad, this would have been a nice coin. Because of the damage I would grade this as VF-25.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4541 Posts |
EF-45
Edited by daviscfad
04/28/2009 10:56 pm
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Moderator
United States
16677 Posts |
I will have to disagree. Luster is still evident and not disrupted. However, this coin has been scraped as the devices, especially those on the coins obverse, look "unnaturally" done by either a tool or the ground (concrete surface). I also don't see any wear evident. I would give this coin MS details, damaged.
swcoin.ecrater.com
Edited by vermontensium
04/27/2009 11:03 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
AU details - Damaged and/or Improperly Cleaned.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6381 Posts |
I suspect this is a trick question. This coin is very weakly struck. New Orleans Morgan dollars are notorious for weak strikes but this is an extreme case. The parallel grooves/scratches on both sides are most evident over the weak areas. These marks could be roller marks which were present on the original planchet. Coins which are weakly struck can retain such marks since the strike pressure wasn't sufficient enough to obliterate the original planchet surface. The coin therefore could be an original, undamaged MS specimen. Of course, the weak strike and retained roller marks hurt the eye appeal which lowers the market grade. This coin could grade up to MS-63, limited by strike and eye appeal. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
618 Posts |
AU 50 I like the coin. Its an O mint I am kind of soft in the heart for them.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Quote:I suspect this is a trick question. This coin is very weakly struck. New Orleans Morgan dollars are notorious for weak strikes but this is an extreme case. The parallel grooves/scratches on both sides are most evident over the weak areas. These marks could be roller marks which were present on the original planchet. Coins which are weakly struck can retain such marks since the strike pressure wasn't sufficient enough to obliterate the original planchet surface. The coin therefore could be an original, undamaged MS specimen.  The first thing I though was roller marks from the original metal sheet. It takes more than just a weak strike to create a coin like that- the dies also have to be improperly spaced, i.e. too far apart. The cotton bolls are the best indicator that this coin is not worn. They are not usually affected by strike weakness but they are one of the first areas to wear in circulation. The New Orleans Mint workers were not known to be the most careful bunch around, probably too many mudbugs and hurricanes on their lunch breaks  Someone else here posted a hideously weak NO Morgan a year or two ago, many were convinced it was VF/EF but it was eventually slabbed as an MS coin. |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Far from the first time I've seen these marks on a Mint State Morgan, and indeed they're strong evidence that the coin hasn't circulated. This has to be one of the weakest New Orleans strikes ever, though. I'm thinking late in the production run, and applying a lesson they learned the hard way in 1890: In 1890, New Orleans minted almost 11 million Morgans from only 60 dies. That's 178,000 coins per die, assuming they were able to use them all, which is a ludicrous number of Morgans from a single die. In 1891, they received 100 dies and minted only 8 million coins, less than half the per-die count, but I'm thinking they were a little gun-shy. MS63. It'd be 64 if the press had, you know, actually squeezed it a little.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2541 Posts |
XF 45 based on the scratching
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Moderator
United States
16677 Posts |
Quote:
The entire planchet probably looked like that before it was struck. Didn't cross my mind  Thanks for sharing! swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4541 Posts |
when I originally posted I actually was think more along the lines of EF not VF sometimes I get confused I will change my first post
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Just out of curiosity, what is the listed asking price at the shop for this one?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
673 Posts |
biochemist, the asking price for this coin would be 270 dollars at MS-63.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Wow, I could have sworn this coin was damaged. Goes to show how much more I have to learn.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,739 |
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Posted 04/27/2009 10:55 pm
