Ungraded 1883CC Morgan 90% Silver Dollar Investment Grade Coin Carson City Mint

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1883 CC Morgan Silver Dollar (UNGRADED) Uncirculated (reverse has golden toning) For Investments and Collections See HD Scan Coin Scanned = Coin Shipped Question: How can I tell if a Morgan Silver Dollar has been cleaned? Answer: The shine that new coins have is technically called mint luster by numismatists. The shine of mint luster is created during the actual coin striking process, when the coin dies come into contact with the planchet under extreme pressure. This process causes changes to the metal of the planchet at the molecular level. The metal of the planchet is forced, by the great striking pressure, to flow into the coin dies (and also against the flat surfaces of the dies and against the edges of the collar, which produce the reeded edge we see on certain coins like dimes, quarters, etc.) A Shiny, Never Cleaned Coin Can Do Cartwheels! As a result of all of this flowing metal, which is happening under extremely high pressure, a unique event occurs. When the metal is done flowing, it has acquired a beautiful, lustruous shine that is a by-product of the coin manufacturing process. The precise cause of the coin's shiny surface, or mint luster, is what we call flow lines; these are microscopic patterns in the metal where the molecules have been forced to line up in certain ways. These flow lines are easier to see on larger coins than on smaller ones. In fact, Morgan Dollars were quickly nicknamed cartwheels when they first came out, partly because the flow lines caused the appearance of a turning windmill when the coin was tilted at angles to the light. ... The story of the History of the Morgan Dollar is truly fascinating and at times incredible! To see the amazing cartwheel effect, take any newly minted coin which is still uncirculated (you probably have a few in your pocket change right now) and tilt the coin to the light, watching for the band of the "cartwheel" to rotate around. It is much easier to see this effect on the obverse (head's side of the coin) than the reverse side, because there is usually more flat space, called the field, on the side with the portrait. Also, the larger the coin, the easier it is to see the cartwheel effect, and the better it rotates. The reason I spent so much time explaining how the cartwheel effect is created, and how you can see if for yourself, is because the cartwheel effect gives us a good indication of what condition the surface of the coin is in, specifically whether the coin has been cleaned or not. In today's coin collecting market, the state of preservation of the surface of the coin has become a critically important element in judging what the value of the coin is. If a coin has been cleaned, its value is significantly reduced. If the coin bears a common date in the twentieth century (1900 to 1999) and it has been cleaned, most dealers throw them on a scale and pay you a small premium over bullion value for them. If you send common-date coin from the twentieth century which has been cleaned to a top-tier grading service (such as PCGS or NCG,) it will probably come back to you in a body bag, and you will have wasted your money trying to get it graded. If I Clean My Coins Which Are Dirty and Ugly, How Can This Possibly Hurt Them? Once again, we're back to our cartwheels, which is our demonstration of the state of preservation of the surface of the coin. For example, let's take a silver coin (although nearly all coins can suffer toning, which is technically surface damage.) Silver coins will tone, or tarnish, as a result of the silver molecules interacting with elements in the environment. As you will see with a tarnished silver coin, you have lost your cartwheel effect, and the surface of the coin itself will have suffered some damage (which is why your cartwheel effect is gone.) However, despite these changes, the surface of your coin is usually still intact, which can be easily verified under magnification. The coin hasn't yet lost much value, because the surface is... read more

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