1921 Morgan Interesting Die Cracks!

Here are reverse cracks

One more crack from the front of the neck going up through the chin

You can take a look here until one of VAM guys check in.

http://www.vamworld.com/Morgan+VAMs+By+Date

I will help I just passed on one in AU about an hour ago as I did not kmow what VAM it is

It has been quite a while Gene, but as I recall, the page that you refer to was only for 1921-Denver.

Oh, all right.

Sorry, guys, been kinda distracted the last couple days.

Early die state of VAM-51A:

http://www.vamworld.com/1921-P+VAM-51A

I'm not really sure whether to call it 51 or 51A. There are a number of 1921 VAMs which have subvarieties distinguished by die cracking the original doesn't display. It's a judgment call as to when it stops being "original" and becomes "subvariety." Left to my judgment, the coin presented here is 51A because the cracks are becoming the story, even though the prime-characteristic break at AM isn't fully developed yet.

The telltale for me was the triangular break at AR in DOLLAR. Very few 1921 varieties show this, and I think 51 is the only Philadelphia coin with it.

Thank you Dave

There are many reasons for cracks in dies Nic. Many cracks are caused by improper annealing in which case the die may suffer a crack upon first strike. Sometimes a die clash will cause a crack to form. Some fissures are inherent in a die slightly sub-surface before first strike, unnoticed during inspection. Sometimes, as you say, extended wear will cause die fatigue resulting in cracks. In the case of the 1921 Morgans though, a good many of the cracks take on similar appearances in location, which I believe, is caused by the redesign and re-profiling of the dies (from that of the 1878-1904 design), leading to premature cracks.