VAMWorld 2.0

The photo appears to show die distortion caused by local stress during manufacture. This is possibly an early strike from a new rev die before metal movement blurred the crystal boundary defect.

(It could also be a tuna salad on rye, with a pickle on the side.)

Rust on a Morgan dollar die is extremely unusual. They were made, shipped, used and condemned in a short time. The most likely mint for any rust was New Orleans.

How was this determined to be the result of "acid treatment" of a die?

Think of the USB 'scope this way: It will cost you 1 BU silver dollar.

"There's no such thing as an unopened roll of 1878 Morgan dollars. I agree that it looks fake. If you bought these recently, return them." Yes. If the OP will go to the PCGS forum there is a thread with photos of this series of counterfeits. That might provide additional information. The thread tit...

OK. Guess we all define "fun" differently.

But, it has no relationship to an authentic Morgan or Peace dollar....all the specifications are incorrect except diameter. Even the designs are cut differently and of much lower quality....

Per Ghost's post.... Here’s a cropped and enlarged version of “ URBIS .” Notice that all of the letters are misshapen and distorted to a greater or lesser degree. Image1.jpg At left, the U has no serifs at upper left; the R has a wheat stem growing from bottom left and right leg is distorted – could...

Curious about why someone would want these imitation things.

In 1921 working dies were made from hubs. This required 5 to 7 squeezes in a medal press which accounts for occasional doubled or tripled dies. The only design element manually entered was the mintmark. You will need at least two identical examples to begin to establish plausibility for anything oth...

Another AI test....

Nope.
What you "see" is not there; and your conjecture about manufacture does not match US Mint die production processes.

Sorry. It's a pleasant MS63-64 dollar.

For the short time period covered by the newly-located volumes, that might be possible. There are orders by well-known collectors and ones from ordinary people. Those from small towns might be easier to locate. Also, although most orders are for proof coins or medals, there are many others for norma...

Care to guess today's value of the silver dollars alone? How about the whole order?

Here's a sample page from 1886. 787524986_18860216Orderformixedproofcoins.jpg.1651995bf8591d7ce39ee88295278626.jpg The manuscript reads: February 16, 1886 George R. Dreese Providence, R.I. Sir: In compliance with your order of the 10th inst., I send you by Adams Express three silver proof sets for ...

The following volumes of correspondence have been digitized and are (or soon will be) available on NNP. These all relate to proof coin and medal orders. These were discovered amidst other documents and were not identified in any of the archive finding aids. Each volume is 500+ pages. It is believed ...

All 3 rev photos seem to show the spike at different angles kin relation to the normal rays.

My grandmother liked shiny coins, especially dollars. She would occasionally wash them, but her favorites were using a large pink pencil eraser, or slathering on some mercury.

When she gave us grandkids a silver dollar for a birthday, I always asked for a "dirty dollar."

From the photos, everything about the "thing" is wrong. Any members ever see a reticulation pattern like that of the forehead and hair? The out-of-collar fishtails? Etc.

This example helps demonstrate how detailed variety information can help in detection of counterfeits . Another way to put it, is there is a practical use to VAM varieties just as there are for variety data in other series. With that kind of utility in mind, how could current (and revised) VAM data ...

Yep. Damage and cleaning with something abrasive. On a die, the portrait is usually the lowest (deepest) part of the design. When two dies clash, those low areas are protected from damage. This is why we find clash marks almost entirely limited to the field. When a coin is struck, the lowest parts o...