Have you ever accepted something you read or learned as true, only to find out years later that it wasn't so? One of the first things I learned about the Morgan Dollar concerned its tail feathers. When the Mint released the first Morgans in 1878, the eagle shown had 8 tail feathers. Supposedly, prompted by ornithologists who complained that bald eagles should have an odd number of tail feathers, the Mint then changed the design to 7 tail feathers. This resulted in the 7/8 (7 over 8) variety. I guess most of you already know this story. But something I didn't know came next. Over the weekend, I decided to count the tail feathers on the reverse of a 2020 Silver Eagle, expecting an odd number. To my surprise, I counted 12! Didn't they care about the odd number? So I read up a bit more and found out that a bald eagle actually has 12 tail feathers. I've always assumed (from my "Morgan Lessons") that bald eagles have an odd number of tail feathers. That, in fact, is not true. They have 12, as correctly depicted by John Mercanti. Perhaps many numismatists already know this. I didn't, until this past weekend, and would like to share it here with others who might have been similarly misled by the Morgan tail feather story.
yep I read they have 12 . cool history on the Morgan though and I am glad they made a change, Makes for some cool reverses
And beyond that, check the feathers on the arrow. One variation shows the top feather parallel to the others, when another variation has the same feather slanted.
John Mercanti spent much of his career making realism art, so I'm not surprised he did some research. Also he really doesn't spend time looking at and being influenced by past coins when he's commissioned by the mint... He's not even much a coin person per-se and actually doesn't have any of the coins he's designed lol! I know this, because literally just last week I got to ask him a couple questions during a very well timed live-stream on YouTube he was participating in when I popped in!!! Getting to ask him a couple questions as someone who has a commercial degree from a well known art school was incredibly special!!!
Very informative. I had no idea until your post JeffC. Thanks for the pic's and enhancing my knowledge. Be safe
This is what I like about CT, I had heard the same thing about the tail feathers and until reading this, I accepted it. THANK YOU JEFFC Stay Safe Semper Fi
You learn something new everyday. Thanks JeffC. I learned that nature doesn't do even numbers. Looks like mother nature pulled a quick one to keep us all guessing. Thanks for the lesson. Happy collecting.
