Welcome to CoinTalk. The Morgan Silver Dollar is not usually called a "Silver Eagle", that name being used for the one-ounce slugs the mint makes. Are you sure the discoloration is metal? Try pushing it with a toothpick.
Thanks. I have LOTS to learn. Just wanted to look for VAMs in my Morgans and Peace dollars. The discoloration is part of the coin. It looks like part of the rounded part of the end of the feathers to me. Well at least it is raised up, so are those other lines. I took another picture.
The black stuff is just a form of dirt. However, in the last two photos, is it raised, lower than the coins surface, or both?
I turn it under the microscope. The bump to the side of the wing is always raised. Some of the lines look raised in some photos and look gouged in other photos. I can not get the case opened to examine any closer.
Can anyone tell me what the M is on Liberty's neck? I've seen this same M on other coins. Is there any significance?
The Designer's initial, George Morgan. It also appears on the bow just beneath the eagle's tail feathers on the reverse.
