Welp. I just bought the "bride of Frankenstein". This might be the biggest flop of my collecting career, or maybe not. Remember when we discussed planchet roller lines? Is this one of those? For the record, I did not pay an exorbitant amount for it. It does however have blistering luster. I am going to call this a novelty purchase. Yep, let's go with that.
I'll take your word that it wasn't what you expected. Hey! Our "Secret Santa" is coming up soon. You could be generous and gift it. Just saying.
I did not buy it for the grade, although that's what got my attention, other than the Freddie Krugerized face. Look at that shiner on the eye! That does not look like PMD. This thing has die gouges galore. The reverse has raised die break lines through it as well.
Blow this thing up on your computer. I do not see it as a weak strike. The hair and eagles chest feathers are clearly defined. But the amount of die gouges and pitting on both the face near the nose and reverse eagle's wing is insane. (eagle's right, viewer's left). I've near seen a coin brilliantly uncirculated as fubared is this one is. It's like a Hunter Biden masterpiece work of art!
Let's leave aside the stuff on the face, in case it is "planchet roller lines", as you suggest. (That's something I know nothing about.) I reckon I'm at MS63+ with a shot at 64.
The early S mint Morgans are among the best struck (usually) in the Morgan series. If you are seeing roller lines from the planchet then it would be a weak strike. Other than that, I would call this an MS63.
Not enough pressure to flatten out the silver that eliminates those lines? You are right. Really what I'm interested in more than anything are the "roller lines". We had an entire thread about that. Looks like this is only on the high part, the device. I looked this stuff up but I don't really trust AI. Draw bars / Rollers: Metal strips pulled through tight draw bars or rolling machinery pick up microscopic debris, scoring the metal Pre-strike origin: Because the lines exist on the blank beforehand, they often continue underneath the coin's raised design elements (devices) Incomplete striking: High striking pressure usually obliterates these marks, but they remain visible in fields or on large coins where pressure is insufficient (On devices)While striking usually erases these lines in recessed or flat fields, they can remain visible across or underneath raised design elements (devices) and high points if the striking pressure is weak or incomplete As I said, bought this as a curiousity. The amount of gouges doesn't seem normal at all, mainly on the reverse on the eagle's wing. Can a planchet defect create an unlisted vam? I'll leave this here for more comments, I have not received it yet, probably a week out from today. The reveal is going to be quite humorous. You'll have to wait to see why.
A planchet defect cannot create a VAM. Errors don't become VAM's either, even if the let's just say strike thru remains on the die surface for 100+ strikes. During the process the struck thru does not create the same details on the coin, it ever so changes slightly. Some roller lines are very heavy and do show thru even on a strongly struck coin. Patches of roller lines usually mean that there was a strike weakness. I really can't tell what happened to the eye. There are atleast two areas that show a heavy reeded design bag marks. The photos just aren't clear enough to tell what is going on.
When I do the reveal (and you guys stop laughing), I'll take some closeups of the eye and die gouges. The eye is WILD. Some coins should have never made it through the quality control process, this is one of them. I can't take a full coin photo to save my life, but my scope takes decent photos under high magnification of specific areas. It's great for searching VAMs.
