1883 CC VAM 3A?

Nice 3A, definitely confirmed. The "scratches" are planchet striations, as prepared by the Mint. The coin is quite incompletely struck, and in a normal strike those striations would have disappeared under striking pressure.

Your images are actually a beautiful illustration of what I consider the "go-to" hallmark of a weak Morgan strike - the flattened talons. May I have your permission to save your last two images, and use them as teaching aids in the future?

Thank you. If those images are full-size, I can grab them right from the thread. If they're smaller than original, I'd sure like the full-size ones.




Here's the scoop: Morgans are known for a wide variance in strike qualities. They were produced at a rate which exceeded anything the Mints had ever done before with coins of that size, and backing off the strike pressure was a good way to extend the life of dies and equipment.

When well-struck, talons are nicely rounded, and have detail - the cuts between "toes" - which extend all the way around them. Importantly, they do not wear as quickly (due to their location) as do the eagle's breast and hair at the ear, which are the places one usually looks for wear on a Morgan. Those are problematic because they also show the effects of a weak strike.

Talons also show weak-strike artifacts, but wear at a different rate. When worn, well-struck talons remain rounded. They don't "flatten" via wear until you're down into the XF or worse range, which isn't important to this discussion because we're talking about the hints which help you to distinguish between a well-struck AU and a weakly-struck Mint State coin.

That's why you look to the talons. If you're undecided about whether you're seeing wear or strike artifacts, talons which still look rounded should make you lean towards wear, while talons which are flattened cause you to lean towards strike.

Of course, this is all at the level of a "hint" rather than a "proof." Like any coin, it's the entirety of both surfaces which need to be factored into an opinion. If this stuff were easy, everybody would be doing it.

Wow, those are some tremendous images. Thank you very much. Knowing English is not your first language, I was worried that my description would cause difficulty, and I'm happy that it didn't.