I was really disappointed when my long held 82 CC Morgan was graded details by ICG back in December. Owell, I sold her off and was on the hunt for a replacement. I picked this one simply for her beauty. A very nice PCGS MS64 with sparkling eye appeal and wicked cartwheels. I really dont like the term “semi prooflike”. But you want to say that for this one. This morning with coffee, I set out to look her over in more detail and possibly find the VAM. I immediately noticed some oddities and she’s easily a VAM2, making the Hit List Top 40. Interest Level is I5 which means outstanding die variety and a rarity of R4 meaning very scarce. So somehow, they punched the original “1” in the completely wrong spot. So you can see the top of the original 1.... BELOW the first 8. There are crazy die polish lines under the first set of stars to the right of the date: And under her neck: And on the reverse, both CCs are completely filled: What do you think @messydesk ? I’m very excited about this pickup.
Yea @messydesk ! Whatcha thinking ? I know what I think ?" I might not be a smart man, but I know what LOVE is ." I love it . Very nice coin with a little added action going on .
Are you sure that's a "1" under the first "8" ? How did they partially strike something that far off ? And then correct it so quickly ? Maybe a part of the striking equipment wasn't completely locked into place ?
I think I read once that they used a date punch in the denticles area to check the hardness of the die.
I am no expert on the minting process, but what piece of unlocked equipment could cause such a mark? My question would be: how in the world did that original “1” get in such the wrong location? Here is an excellent writeup by the good people at Vamworld on this coin: http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wiki/1882-CC_VAM-2
I don't buy it. A "1" engraved in that position does not make sense regardless of what the attributor states. It is a die chip. That is my opinion and I am sure my comments will be laughed at and challenged, so fire away.
I hope posters will give cogent reasons of how this is possible and not state what my mother used to say, "Because I (they) said so."
There are many MPD's in the Morgan series occurring in the denticles. One of my personal favorites is the '83-O VAM-39 where all 4 digits are in the denticles. http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wiki/1883-O_VAM-39 I believe this (1882-CC VAM-2) is just a misplaced MPD. The intention was likely farther south from where it is.
It's the upper part of the flag of the 1. There are misplaced dates like this throughout the series starting with 1879. Search the VAMWorld Wiki for "misplaced" or "in denticles" and you'll see a lot of them, some more convincing than others. To go along with the 82-CC VAM 2, there's also the 82 VAM 24, showing parts of the base of the 1 near the denticles. Given the position on the die, these things tend to wear off the die pretty quickly, so you need an early die stage to be able to fully appreciate it.
The punch was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like all the other MPDs (and not just for Morgan dollars), there's no concrete explanation as to why. The hardness test is one possibility. A die sinker being bitten by a rat at the wrong time is another. A jig slipping yet another.