This 1897 is currently with PCGS in the quality check phase, grade should be available soon. Sorry don't have better pics, so I've also included a short video. What are your grade thoughts?
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
Very nice 6A. The reverse is fantastic. Many 1897 Morgans are a dull gun metal gray, but yours has a nicer surface than most. Decent strike, and average bag marks on the obverse. If this is a Redfield coin, I'd say it may have some peach juice spots under the tip of the eagle's right wing (our visual left). I've seen a lot worse coins come in at MS-63, and the reverse may pull this up a half step to MS-63+.
the only comment i'll add is that the 97(P) strikes are almost always sharp. this one is close with a little flatness in the hair under LIBERTY and around the ear. pinholes under the tail. not 100% sure but I believe they would be die related. the dig on the nose is pretty deep and is displacing metal. Reeding hit at the bottom of the bust. from K8 to K10 in front of the face it looks like the field has been worked. the video is much help with this as the coin is being rotated too fast. could be lighting but I wanted to point that out. if its actually there and if its been worked, then it could come back UNC details
tough call on what PCGS will say. its going to come down to who handles it if they are aware of dull surfaces and pinholes on this date.
adding all this together I'm at MS63 without better photos (less lighting glare)
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Posted 08/30/2025 11:32 am
