1921 Morgan Silver Dollar D Questions

Welcome to Coin Community, Vondas. The D1 reverse is the 17-berry, and it's only found on 1921-P issues (which also used the D2). Both Denver and San Francisco used the 16-berry D2 reverse exclusively, and all should be found with 189 reeds. Only the "Infrequent Reeding" 1921-P issues used a different reed count of 157 (the lowest-ever in the Morgan series), and to date all but one of those varieties is known to have used the D1 reverse. The Infrequent Reeding with the D2 reverse - VAM-44 - is a ridiculous rarity.

Reverse- I hope you can work with this image. Where the mint mark is usually located under close examination I thought I was seeing a D.

Absolutely no offense taken sir. Most of what I have learned about this coin has been absorbed through your writing. I was trying to figure out where it was minted so I took a few pictures and zoomed way in and that's what I saw. I wish I had better photoshop software, perhaps you can tell me what I am seeing? This is a zoomed in look of the same photo of the reverse side shown above.





Almost looks like it could be a B. The Bottom line seems pretty profound to me. The lighting must have been just right because other photos I have taken show nothing.

Fascinating.

The only likely culprit for a clash in that area is the wheat kernels, and off the top of my head I cannot recall ever seeing such a clash with any Morgan. Nor would it have that shape if it were.

Aside being too large, it looks exactly like a "D" mint mark. It doesn't match any letter sizes on a Morgan, though. The first thought is obviously PMD, but it's awfully regular to be accidental contact.

OK, next thought, Vondas. Do you have the ability to apply magnification to eyeball the coin? If so, have the closest-possible look at it and see if you can determine whether it's raised or depressed.

I'm not really seeing that "twinkle" I mentioned since I put it in a coin capsule. On the bottom of the the alleged "D", where the mark is most significant, I can start to see the whole thing under good lighting. The "D" isn't in a normal location for a mint marking, (as far as I can tell). After Dave mentioned the size I figured I should be able to see this if I look closely. Sorry I don't have anymore information right now or something a little more concrete, but judging from the bottom line of the "D", it sure looks raised to me. I will try and buy a magnifying glass to get a better look. By the way, thank you both for the friendly welcome.

After patiently taking roughly 30 additional photos, I could not come anywhere close to what is already posted. Not only are these not as clear, most of the others show nothing at all. Staring and taking pictures are only taking me so far.

For a moment, I was positive it is raised above the surface, minutes later, I was convinced it's sunken below, and back and forth. Lighting has to be strong, but even more importantly, the angle I am looking from and tilt or positioning of the coin.




The first picture I posted with the red circle is starting to feel like some kind of a freak occurance. The best results have come from using the flash.


Magnifying glass later today, not so sure it's going to help much.

With the equipment I have gathered, this is a really tough, tough, call. I have owned a long, skinny, tube shaped magnifier for over 15 years and it's not in great shape, but it gets me pretty close, a lot closer than the cheap magnifying glass I used prior. After repeatedly adjusting light and angles for over an hour, I finally got a decent look.

I am feeling pretty strongly that the "D" is raised above the coin's surface. It looks like there is a pretty decent scratch right at the base of the profound botttom line I mentioned. The way it commences into the bottom of that perfect D shape partially brought me to this conclusion; it made trying to distinguish the mark's height a little easier to gauge. The rectangle inside of the D is the most definitive evidence as it appears clearly sunken below the letter's inner outline.

The top half of the "D", is most difficult. The photograph which captured the entire letter so clearly was pure luck and completely baffles me,(especially considering it was taken without direct intent of doing so). The other half of the letter "D" from roughly the center down is what is most visible, as I said before, this is really tough; the mark is incredibly weak and extremely dainty.

I can't stress enough how difficult it is for me to feel comfortable with my assertion. My eyes are sore from squinting and this process was surprisingly exhausting. I wanted to be 100% certain but I believe this is as close as I'm going to get and I'm going with my gut feeling.

By no means can I state that I am absolutely positively certain. I'm not even in the minor league with coins and I have no experience with examining them. If I weren't feeling pretty good about this, I wouldn't have created this post. I know it's not much, but it's my honest, conscious opinion.

That's a bagmark, caused by the reeding of another coin hitting it in the bag they were stored in.