Yeah, scans. Your hints that there might be a pretty good coin here (posted more for lurking readers than yourself):
1) Mint wash spots. These wear off quickly in circulation, and are a pretty good indicator the coin is Mint State.
2) Details in the talons and along the top edges of the wings indicate a strong strike.
3) Especially on the reverse, "dark" fields shown in a scan indicate pretty darn good luster.
4) You just_don't_see that much detail in 1921 cotton bolls very often.
The coin you presented here in photographs backs up everything the scans hinted at.