Morgan Dollar Grading Question 0

[Sam1234567890]

Hi all. I was recently going through my collection and trying to put a general grade on some of my nicer coins. I found this nice 1921 P Morgan Dollar and I'm just wondering what your opinion is on the grade. I'm thinking high 50s to low 60s. There are a few small scratches, but it has very sharp details.

[Coinbuf]

From the photos I see an AU55.

[MAULEMALL]

16 hours ago, Coinbuf said:

From the photos I see an AU55.

1921 is the ugliest Morgan of the series

[RWB]

EF. Too much wear for any sort of real AU grade.

[Woods020]

3 hours ago, RWB said:

EF. Too much wear for any sort of real AU grade.

Where is the wear? I was looking hard to see if it was really AU or MS. If there is wear in the hair it’s minimal.

Wingtips also don’t show wear that I see. 

Edited July 6, 2021 by Woods020

[Coinbuf]

1 hour ago, Woods020 said:

Where is the wear? I was looking hard to see if it was really AU or MS. If there is wear in the hair it’s minimal.

Wingtips also don’t show wear that I see. 

I used the op's photos and circled what I see as wear, however these photos are out of wack for the white balance so with a different set of photos it may appear differently

 

[Woods020]

Sam - I agree the pictures aren’t the best. Any way you can post some more?

[Sam1234567890]

I'm actually getting a better scope tomorrow, so I will send some more pictures then. Thanks for all the feedback, it's really helpful.

[James Zyskowski]

Welcome to the forum. I am learning to grade and it sure is complex. I see some marks something about the strike and just a feeling. It sure is a nice addition to your collection, a new old re-discovery. Thanks for posting and we look forward to seeing updated pictures. For now AU maybe ams60 I hope so. 

[Sam1234567890]

I took some new pictures in warm and cool lighting.

[Sam1234567890]

[Woods020]

Much better pictures. It should show us all just different minor changes can make in a picture of a coin. It can look like many different coins. 
 

Completely agree it’s AU but it’s also harshly cleaned. It wouldn’t straight grade. Certainly not one worth grading. 1921s are too common and with AU details it’s essentially worth silver price. 

[Coinbuf]

Thanks for the additional images Sam, I have used two of your new images to illustrate what I am seeing as I did with your original images.  For the obv I have circled the hair curls both over the forehead and the lower curls.  Note the color change at the highest points and the flatness, the flatness could come from a weak strike.  However when you couple that with the color change these areas look like rub/wear.  I have also circled an area of the field, this type of scruffiness is almost always indicative of a coin that has seen circulation.    On the rev again I have circled the areas in the field that show a wear pattern that is almost always seen with AU level coins.   I felt certain that your coin was AU from the first set of photos and these new photos have confirmed to me that AU is the correct grade for this coin.

As a side note I have circled an area of the cheek on the obv that shows signs of cleaning or damage as seen by the parallel lines on the cheek.

 

[Alex in PA.]

On 7/5/2021 at 5:54 PM, MAULEMALL said:

1921 is the ugliest Morgan of the series

How many does this make this week?  I counted four today alone.  Sleepy Hollow is getting awfully popular.  Maybe it was the Covid?    

[Alex in PA.]

This is a pretty good guide for beginners.  Not the greatest; but very good.

How to Grade Morgan Dollars - Guide With Photo Examples (thesprucecrafts.com)