Need help IDing an 1878-S

[mts]

I have an 1878-S that has some pickups but I have been unable to properly identify it.

The B appears broken, has the notch out of the lower leg and clipping on the base but different from other broken Bs.

The fourth right star is broken.

The P is bulbous.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you for any insights you can share!

[Vam-mysterio]

Close up pictures of reverse and obverse
Will help

[mts]

I thought I added them. Thanks for pointing out they weren't there. I didn't realize you had to also click the place inline button. Oh well, here they are again.

WIN_20230917_10_34_25_Pro.jpg (164.44 KiB) Viewed 398 times

WIN_20230917_10_32_53_Pro.jpg (112.02 KiB) Viewed 398 times

WIN_20230917_10_29_15_Pro.jpg (153.28 KiB) Viewed 398 times

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WIN_20230917_10_26_45_Pro.jpg (149.88 KiB) Viewed 398 times

[tbconcrete]

Looks like a B2M Reverse to me.

[mts]

Thanks. Appreciate it!

[UNCLE BINGO]

Thanks. Appreciate it!

Welcome to the Forum BTW !

[keilg1]

Welcoming you in, too.

Helping educate is part of the process so often you might not get your answer directly. This is to 'help you fish', if you will, instead of giving you fish to eat. (Or just providing the beer that always goes along with the activity...)

Best guide is the engraved feather region one: http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compu ... ther_GUIDE if you've not spotted it.

I tend to open up multiple tabs that have all the guides side-by-side to compare: ear, bow, etc.

Alternatively, the http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compu ... _Varieties guide is extremely helpful. You know the coin has a broken 4th right star, but what about the 'r' of trust? If you have those two bits of info, you then look at LIBERTY to see if it's doubled, this will point you to one of 5 lists you can look through (especially with the engraved feather guide open to see which varieties and numbers you can go directly to).

I'd say the notch you see on the B of PLURIBUS is not, technically, broken like it is in the guide -- the break is on the surface of the lower right side of the letter (see http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compu ... d_shaped_r for clear pictures of what this means) -- but the notch might be very helpful to keep in mind as you narrow down the search.

Listening to folks like @tbconcrete who defiitely are in the know is highly suggested...

Happy hunting and please keep sharing picutres so se can keep steering you in the right direction!

[mts]

Thanks for all this information and suggestions! I'll take a look at the guides side by side.

[lewisr2]

When I first looked at the above photos, I had no idea what VAM this is.
I am still not sure but I think it may be the b2af the reverse of V-48, 84 and 91.

[tbconcrete]

B2V is also an option to look a, V34? t. Lew is the Man when it comes to 78S VAMs. He may chime in here.
tiny

[tbconcrete]

And.... the results are? What did you VAM it to be?

[keilg1]

And.... the results are? What did you VAM it to be?

Curiosity is lingering around me on this, too... I think I have my guess but without addtional pictures (bow, trust, etc.) it's a wild guess.

What say ya, @mts... ya wanna throw us some bones to chew on (oh, and keep helping you ID this lovely one)?

[mts]

I'm touched that so many are curious about this 1878-S.

On this 1878-S the broken B didn't seem to fit some of the dies just as KeilG1 stated. The r in trust wasn't broken but the coin didn't exactly match any die pair.

Morgans are beautiful. I thought I would be successful in identifying die varieties but that doesn't appear to be the case.
I've wasted more money than I'd like to admit trying to get coins attributed by third party graders and my success rate is let's just say horribly embarrassing.

Many of the coins that have failed attribution are imho obviously from the particular die or die pairs I've named but the specific coin was minted either slightly earlier or later than the reference pictures appear and that's why they reject the attribution.

Given my success, or rather failure rate, and unable to match this coin to an exact die pair, I sold it. I appreciate all the responses and apologize if you feel I've yanked your chain over this coin by selling it.

Maybe going forward, for coins that don't exactly match, I'll start publishing pictures online and if they appear to be an existing die just earlier or later in the die life cycle, I'll add comments as to why I believe that to be the case.