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Message:: [QUOTE="Clinker, post: 543256, member: 6229"]If you don't know the differences in the Morgan Silver Dollars of 1878 (first year struck), then read on and see the differences. The differences are on the reverse of the 1878 (no mint mark) strikes. Here's the 7 Tailfeathers variety: (all photos are courtesy of coinpage.com) <a href="http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-2779.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-2779.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-2779.html</a>  and here's the 8 tailfeather variety: <a href="http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-575.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-575.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-575.html</a>  In reality, the US Mint in Philadelphia struck the 8 Tailfeathers variety first. Because of difficulties with the 8 Tailfeathers variety, new dies were made with only 7 Tailfeathers.  And here's a photo of a 7 over 8 Tailfeathers variety: <a href="http://www.coinpage.com/large.php?tImageId=1333" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinpage.com/large.php?tImageId=1333" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinpage.com/large.php?tImageId=1333</a>  But that's not the end of the 1878 differences. There are two more which are rarer than the two different Tailfeathers varieties: For at least the first half of 1878, the reverse dies featured an eagle with a flat breast and a parallel fletch on the top arrow. However, in nature, no healthy eagle has a sunken chest and unless one of the arrows held by the eagle was bent, the perspective was inappropriate (take a look at the bottom arrowhead in the image, then follow its "line" to the left, and you'll see where the fletch is either missing or way out of place). These two problems were fixed on the reverse dies used in the latter part of 1878 - the eagle's breast became rounded and the top fletch was slanted. These became known as the "Reverse of 1879" to differentiate them from the earlier dies. Thus, the 1878 7 Tail Feathers is found with either a Reverse of 1878 or a Reverse of 1879!  Here's a photo of the 1878 w/Reverse of 1878: (courtesy coinfacts.com) <a href="http://www.coinfacts.com/silver_dollars/morgan_dollars/1878_morgan_dollars/1878_7TF_rev1878_morgan_dollar.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinfacts.com/silver_dollars/morgan_dollars/1878_morgan_dollars/1878_7TF_rev1878_morgan_dollar.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinfacts.com/silver_dollars/morgan_dollars/1878_morgan_dollars/1878_7TF_rev1878_morgan_dollar.htm</a>  Here's that elusive 1879 Reverse: <a href="http://www.coinfacts.com/silver_dollars/morgan_dollars/1878_morgan_dollars/1878_7TF_rev1879_morgan_dollar.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinfacts.com/silver_dollars/morgan_dollars/1878_morgan_dollars/1878_7TF_rev1879_morgan_dollar.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinfacts.com/silver_dollars/morgan_dollars/1878_morgan_dollars/1878_7TF_rev1879_morgan_dollar.htm</a>  So, with the 1878-CC and 1878-S Morgans that gives you Morgan Dollar Collectors 5 different 1878s to collect. The two different reverses being the toughest. Thought you'd like to know... Clinker[/QUOTE]

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