Need help Understanding PITTING

[demetri]

I have an 1881 S spiked 8 (unknown vam yet) with what looks like a patch of dense contained pitting directly in front of the eye and down cheek bone a bit and at first thought it was just pitting. Maybe its common for 1881 S? Looking closer almost looks squiggly on surface. Im having a lighting issue and cant get pics worth adding so in mean time I wanted to look up more about pitting and other surface anomalies. I noticed the luster is present over whatever it is.

Im still kind of new to VW and trying to understand pitting on surface. So far I get that it is rust on die surface and age. Im sure there are informative discussions on them if someone would be so kind as to link it. I already read VM definitions but I was looking for more. For example, are there other surface marks similar to pitting, in patches? The pitting I have seen so far is in wide areas as opposed to small patch area say, the hollow in front of the eye?

Appreciate the knowledge anyone cares to share

[UNCLE BINGO]

rusty dies ?????

[RogerB]

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.

[UNCLE BINGO]

@demetri With out a picture of your coins eye area it would be a blind guess... Strike through, die chips , OR PMD could be the reason for your patches, Heck I don't know maybe ,die fatigue, gouges , polishing events ,,,,, probably a dozen more that I don't know about ... Is this luster you mentioned any more sparkly than the rest???Any duller ???

[UNCLE BINGO]

K maybe not polishing events ,,, Like i said guess . This 1888 -s 6A is attributed s/s Upper Bar , Pitted Reverse, from Rusty Dies I think, , do your patched look like this ?

QS24G6JAV.JPG (229.23 KiB) Viewed 392 times

QS24G6I31.JPG (201.71 KiB) Viewed 392 times

[Jodemyer]

I had thought it was rust spots. Heres an 83-o thats nicely pitted. I have also wondered.

[UNCLE BINGO]

I want to say there might also be an "altered surface" pitting made from a mini sandblaster , can't remember what that is called though

Nice picks !!! your birdie has POX,, eagle pox ,,, its like chicken pox but cost more

[Jodemyer]

lol @UNCLE BINGO yep gonna need the shingles vacination haha I have not heard of sandblasting the die faces..interesting!

[UNCLE BINGO]

No the alter surface thing is a coin cleaning type deception, the same category as whizzed sort of , I can't remember what it is called though...

[UNCLE BINGO]

please don't do this to a Morgan Dollarhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=3FSR80hEyrk ... IECMiOmarE

[Jodemyer]

Oh wow! I wonder if they bondo- paint and prime em as well? Yep not a good thing for anything of any possible value for sure! The pits on this one are raised so was incuse in the die faces. I finally figured out this is a 39a and looking close at the plate pics for 39 can see the pitting though not listed.

[UNCLE BINGO]

What causes that ?, I saw they were raised . seems like you can see that feature on several samples under the right lighting .It looks like slag in bedded in the surface , not so much rusty dies , but some byproduct of extreme heat maybe ????..

[Jodemyer]

I'm not sure, (Not trying to take over OP's original post but add to it.) It's a great question thay I've wondered about alotso thanks @demetri for asking about it. I was trying to figure out how would a set of dies rust as much as they were in use. I understand the flakes, which I would imagine is from die fatigue and constant pounding, the weak areas would come apart. But the pits I just figured rust spots somehow. But I am also learning so I have no idea

[UNCLE BINGO]

So i was on the 82-O v 4 page and it shows a picture of a reverse that looks much like your 83-O eagle and someone dubbed your pitting as" Freckles "

[Jodemyer]

@UNCLE BINGO

[UNCLE BINGO]

So I have actually learned something important while looking through the VW pages . They call the kind if pimple like pitting on your 83-O porosity , Which is exactly what I believe it would look like if it was in the die .. not rust >>>> I would have to show you a bad weld made by long arcing 7018 structural Mig rod , on a welding machine to duplicate the tiny bubbles that show up from too much heat when electro arc welding .... very simple explanation here.... To me rust is gonna look more like a scab , while your" freckles look like what would flow into a die "that suffered from porosity. pretty sure that it can happen while forging . MY kid watches way to many episodes of forged in fire and although he is a long ways from becoming a blacksmith he even knows about the condition .

[UNCLE BINGO]

@demetri this is one year off from your coin , one year off but same mint . does your coin look like this ?http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compu ... 0-S_VAM-88

[demetri]

I had thought it was rust spots. Heres an 83-o thats nicely pitted. I have also wondered.

nice pitting

[PacificWR]

The 1883-O specimen is a good example of pitting (fine raised dots) in the design. The 1888-s specimen is a good example of pitting (fine raised dots) in the field.

[Albannach]

The rev E. D I would call rust pitting

The fine round bumps, I believe (they say) is due to the basining process (still “chemical” in nature…)
Have a look at 82 p van 1 D2
I believe that is a drip of acid pitted

Sand blasting leaves fine directional lines, so I hope that helps a bit