Die Cracks On 21d Morgan

SeatedNut - thanks for the info - novice here with Morgans. Wow, what a website! I guess you'd call it a die break, then. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can help me out with the VAM.

I took the liberty of moving this into the VAM section, because I'd like the VAM-centric membership to have a look at this coin.

Die cracks are hardly uncommon on 1921-D's, drdave. In fact, you'd think they're the rule rather than the exception. The Denver Mint was pushing hard to get as many as 20 million Dollars minted and quality considerations took a back seat to sheer production.

These die cracks can be considered in the same fashion as fingerprints - no two sets are exactly alike. There are certain areas on the die which were prone to cracking - so differing varieties may have very similar cracks in places - but there should always be details which allow one variety to be differentiated from the next. You just have to take *every* crack into consideration.

The coin you present here shows every sign of being a VAM-1P:

http://www.coincommunity.com/us_dol...n_dollar.asp

http://www.vamworld.com/1921-D+VAM-1P

....with one glaring exception - the cracks between the "AT" of "STATES." I've never seen one with that triangular structure.

The twin cracks to the right of the second 1, the detail around the 2, the single long crack from the first 1, all the details except that one image follow 1P closely. Other varieties have similar cracks to these, but when you add them all together 1P is the only one which has them all in one place. Even the denticle detail, where the crack from the "T" enters the denticles, is correct.

So what I'd like you to do, drdave, is confirm this to be VAM-1P using the links above. The "smoking-gun" attributes are the die break between ER of AMERICA, the die gouge in the eagle's wing, and the vertical spike in the "u" of "trust."

Yours is likely a late die state of this variety. That would explain the additional cracks at AT. However, yours presents much earlier-state cracks around the date than the example I pictured for CCF, a coin which lacks the AT cracks yours shows.

It's pretty interesting, and I'd like to pursue it further.

All three of these attributes are very plainly visible. Does this confirm it to be VAM-1P? If it does, I guess the main question is it common?