1904-0 Opinions.

Echizento, I highly respect your grading capabilities, but I have to disagree with you on this one.

I love the frostiness of this coin. I think any problems with this coin are due to the picture not showing the right amount of detail that is present. I don't believe there's wear on this one.

I think it's an MS-64 coin.

MS 64! one post to go!

I looked at this coin for a long time trying to determine if it was rub or maybe the lighting. I erred on the side of caution and went with rub.

Morgan strike quality varies so widely that it's difficult to be sure based on *any* photo, regardless of how good it is. But we grade them anyways.

I look at the obverse of this coin and see wear. The hair above the ear seems a little "rounded," implying wear rather than weak strike. The cotton bolls seen to be showing wear; a weak strike will cause the little dimples to disappear in a band across them and I still see some of those dimples where they wouldn't be if it's a strike issue. The lower hair is nicely detailed, indicative of a strong strike as well.

The reverse shows more obvious weak-strike evidence. The talons and the largest leaf - to the viewer's left of the mint mark - are flattened. Circulation wear will affect the breast and neck first, and I see very little interruption in the original frostiness in those areas.

Now, we factor in what we know about this specific year/mint.

I've seen some downright-flat Mint State 1904-O's. It seems that San Francisco and New Orleans had differing opinions of appropriate striking pressure. This one is actually pretty well-struck for a New Orleans coin.

Conclusions? None, LOL. Could be AU58, could be MS64. Not enough evidence to be sure either way. This is the point, with a given coin, where I start inspecting the reeding under magnification to see if I can see any wear.