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 Replies: 6 / Views: 2,590 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1003 Posts |
I bought this coin $18. I thought it was a good deal. When I came home, I looked at it again. I noticed these lines on it. I was thinking about it and I checked The Cherrypicker's Guide. It wasn't there. I then checked Peace dollar.com. They had nothing. Long story short, is this an error and if so, what kind.    Is the Eagle's mouth always like this on Peace dollars? Thank you for reading. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
it looks like someone just put some huge scratches on it. As far as the eagle goes, I have no clue.
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New Member
United States
18 Posts |
I'm a newbie, but if I had to take a logical guess, the lines look like a mint error when the coin was struck. As far as the eagle's mouth goes, it looks exactly like my Peace dollars when you look that close. |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
Long story short, is this an error and if so, what kind.
Yes, it is. Morgan and Peace dollar varieties are called VAMs, an acronym for Leroy Van Allen and George Mallis, who first codified them. You'll note that we have an entire subforum dedicated to them. Peace dollar dies were known to crack in this rather unique circular pattern. Many, many different examples are known throughout the series. Your particular coin is VAM-1K: http://www.vamworld.com/1923-D+VAM-1KIt's one of the more spectacular examples of die cracking, since the field of the die has literally become displaced to the left of the 1. This does not necessarily mean it's an added-value feature; few collectors seek Peace dollars by variety at this point and yours is of fairly low grade. It is, however, a fascinating piece and indicative of just how bad dies can get. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8516 Posts |
Would love to see the whole obverse. Is the reverse affected at all ?
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
Would love to see the whole obverse. Is the reverse affected at all ?
The reverse is unaffected. It might seem weird but when you look at things, certain issues show certain frequent patters of die breakage unique to them. Morgans are infamous for breaking around the outside (towards the rim) periphery of the letters. Peace dollars do this circular thing. Busties are known for similar circular cracks. Others (Seated Halves, Lincs, Mercs, maybe others) are known for straight bisecting cracks. I think it has to do with the interplay between the actual design, the annealing process as used in that era (whichever it may be), and the heat patterns generated by high-speed striking under tremendous pressure. That seriously heats dies, and they then fail according to how that heat propagates along high-stress areas related to the coin's design. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2540 Posts |
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Replies: 6 / Views: 2,590 |
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Posted 02/01/2014 4:19 pm
