And why is that? Because it's not! Just because someone buys the name "ANACS", that doesn't make it the same thing. There are at least three, but maybe even several MORE, "versions" of "ANACS", and none is the same company as any of the others. You think ANY present consumer product with a Kodak or Polaroid name on it is from the same company from the 1970's? Fuggeddaboudit! It's a NAME ONLY. Same with ANACS. Only Kodak's Professional Imaging Division products are "real Kodak".
The coin and holder look legit. I'd get it reholdered sometime if you want to keep it in a slab. That generation is referred to as the "quick release" ANACS generation -- by people at ANACS. Didn't last long, because you could easily crack it open with a twist, and sometimes just a drop.
Perhaps it's just me, but I was expecting something very different based upon the earlier description.
Oh, you are right. Duh. I meant 1878. Yes, a 1921 8TF would be quite a find. I was looking at a 1921 Peace dollar I just got back from being graded, so I had that on my mind. I don't know why the U.S. Mint couldn't wait to just do one design in '21.
Insofar as it's an 1878 VAM 12 with VF details that has had its surfaces excessively futzed with, yes.
The berries would be huge if it were a 1921 but since it's an 1878 they are correct and as expected with the amount of circulation wear. I would not bother getting it into a newer slab. It's fine (12) right where it is..
Not really. They still punched the mintmark into each die by hand. But when you punch that letter in it displaces metal. Where does that metal go? It tries to go sideways, but there is already other metal there resisting it. So it goes UP forming a raised ridge around the letter. If the mintmark is punched in before the final polishing/lapping, that raised ridge is polished off and the mintmark is then just a depression in a flat field, or a raised letter on a flat field on the coin. If it is punched in AFTER the final polish, or if they don't do a good job withthe polishing, that raised ridge remains and on the coin the mintmark then sits in a depression. That depression tend to gather dirt and gunk creating the dark area around the mintmark.