Hello all, Newbe here. Just got a 1889 Hot-50 VAM-16 DDO Ear Morgan. While looking over the coin I notice several things. Although graded by NGC I always wonder whether the grade process is up to par with PCGS. Here is what I found. The lips on this piece looked to be called what collectors term 'hot lips'. This is because of the upper lip having that downward curve to it, compared to a regular lip that is straight. Please give me your opinions on this. Is this common ? Also I will present this question to all of you. Can these coins have several issues with them when made ? I'm trying to get a better picture of the eye area to post to ask my next question. Thanks for your input.
Curious. The lip issue you have is not as pronounced as the 1888-O Hot Lips double strike error but certainly not typical. As you look at your Morgans you'll see variations on the lips. Very interesting coin.
If you're referring to the way the upper lip curves downward and then back up slightly, that is very common. It was designed that way on the first year, 1878. To answer your other question, if I understand you correctly, there may be multiple issues that occur in the course of striking these coins, but not all of them are important enough to list in the variety attribution. For example, die clashes were extremely common for almost all years, but unless they involved letter transfers, they weren't noted. The same is true for die cracks. The dies were subjected to 130+ tons of strike pressure, so cracks were common, and more often than not, these cracks were used as die markers to determine die state. Chris
"Hot Lips" refers specifically to the 1888-O VAM 4, which has very strong doubling. 1889 VAM 16 has slight doubling on the profile, perhaps visible on the lips, but not anywhere near as strong as the 88-O Hot Lips. The overall shape of the lips on this coin appears normal to me. 89 VAM 16 also has numerous die clashes, which are rather common. Only when they are strong enough to transfer letters from one side to the other do collectors start taking notice, and even then there may not be any value premium. You should see several tightly grouped diagonal lines where Liberty's jaw meets the neck and a corresponding group of vertical lines on the reverse from the edge of the eagle's right (viewer's left) wing up toward the space between "In" and "God."
