GTG: 1878 8TF Morgan, VAM 14.4

I haven’t bought much in a while. But I have always wanted this particular VAM. With truviews.

The reverse is hard to describe. Truly looks like a silver bowl with pristine mirrors. I took one photo with the overhead light directly overhead and you can see the bowl effect. It doesn’t cartwheel…. Instead the light is circular like a Target sign.


http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wiki/1878-P_VAM-14.4

1. The VAM 14.4 is an 8 Tailfeather Morgan Morgan that is the favorite variety of many VAM experts. Its beautiful concave reverse is unique in the series. Tilting and rotating a VAM 14.4 reverse in the light gives the impression you are gazing into a silver bowl. The effect rivals the best cartwheels you have ever seen on an obverse of any Morgan. If the VAMworld crew were to vote on the most distinctive VAM, the 14.4 would be in the top two or three. It's that dazzling. The 14.4 is referred to as the "Deep Dish" variety due to its concave reverse. It has a unique reverse that almost always has DMPL surfaces. It may have been previously mis-attributed as the VAM 13, which has been delisted.

 

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That's a beauty Brad. That one must have cost a pretty penny. 8TF in that condition don't grow on trees. Well done! I've only got one 78 8TF and it "may" be XF. Part of my dad's silver coin stacking hoard, I was just lucky.

 

Forgot to guess. 65+?

 

Very sweet and while I have the other 4 78s I still need the 7/8 and 8tf slabbed (I do have both raw in my album though but not quite MS xf/au on the 8th... 7/8tf more like vf


as for my guess.. you get MS66 from me a real beauty piece

 

To tuff for me.

 

MS-65

Nice Coin!

 

I'm at a MS-64+ SPL (PL reverse, SPL obverse).

Edit: after re-examining the coin, I downgraded the guess to a 64.

 

MS 63

 

MS64, nice.

 

I thought slider also MS64.

 

MS66

 

MS-64

 

Alright, I’m going to throw a curveball. It’s a details grade for an issue on the obverse, can anyone spot it?

I can’t remember the last time I purposefully bought a details coin. But this a very expensive variety (to me) if this was a straight grade. I bought it strictly for the reverse at a fraction of the price. I wish they would have mounted it backwards!

In my opinion, without the problem, it would be a 64. Maybe a 65.

 

Wheel mark in front of Liberty's neck? If you wanted to pay for reholdering, you could get it holdered reverse up. This is a great 8TF variety. It may have been a "let's see if this helps" die preparation, where they used a basin with smaller radius to see if they could get more life out of a die. It could have also just been unintentionally done this way amid the chaos of suddenly needing to produce 2 million coins in a month.

 

Under UM in "UNUM" (and above the Eagle on Reverse).

However, I don't give a darn, because the "wipes" could just as easily happened a the Mint, and the small dink (my description) is laughably trivial and also could have been a Mint issue. The Die Break itself certainly reflects that at that stage of the useful life, it is not unreasonable to assume the Mint enhancement of the Die. It is a little inconsistent that the UM and Eagle location would be the only areas to have a reflection of being only the result of being aggressively cleaned outside the Mint, and I, as a Grader, would not have detailed this piece on that alone.

I note there is an appearance of graffiti under the U of PLURIBUS, (and on the Reverse above the Eagle feathers) but only because of the photo, which is certainly quite larger than a 5-7X examination. I would again consider this a trivial issue, as I would the counting mark and the one very minor hit...so? Maybe a slight downgrade, but a Details, no. Absolutely not, for this piece.

No doubt maybe it was dipped somewhere along the line. And??

It is an OUTSTANDING example and I would have been all over it in a Details Holder especially considering it could be had for less Wampum.

OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE!
Good on you.

This has been another Charley Talk.

 

Another "BTW", I am not a great fan of the term counting mark or wheel mark, etc., as it is....to me.... a bit more logical that it is a reed hit from, well, the Mint process, the bag rattling around all those shiny things, a collector whamming a few pieces together, etc.

 

Two entirely different things. The patch on the lower right obverse field where the luster is suddenly different is not a hit or a bag mark. Random hits from other coins are not considered damage like a burn mark from a rubber wheel in a counting machine.

 

Thank you for the education.

 

I wasn’t going to reveal so quickly, but since you two are discussing it: Messy is correct, “wheelmark” directly under Ms Liberty’s chin. It’s actually not that dramatic, but if the light hits it at the right angle…. It’s definitely there.

Besides the amazing mirror bowl reverse, it’s incredible how many doubling locations, die cracks, and clash marks exist on this coin.