RWB

The "total minted" and "known melted" are well-documented quantities from US Treasury/Mint records and limited foreign bank records. "Total known survivors" comes from post-WW II physical counts of looted gold and coins restored to rightful owners; plus estimated extant collectible pieces. "Theoretical survivors" are just that: theoretical. It is not known what happened to these coins. Most were probably melted and recoined after export from the US as part of business and international loan transactions. During WW II Germany and Sweden melted coins and bars so they could be reassayed and freshly stamped - this avoided questions when the new bars were offered in payment for war materials to Portugal, Switzerland, Spain and others. Small hoards remain in France, Belgium, Netherlands, and elsewhere in Europe, but they do not constitute a significant quantity. (These will "pop-up" with generational changes.) The situation is better documented than for Liberty DE, but the unknowns are large and probably undiscoverable.

Not worth having a TPG "grade" the coin. Get a copy of the ANA Grading guide- excellent and a lot cheaper. (The coin is not uncirculated.)

Slot machine or extensive coin-op use. Not broad struck -- just broadly worn.

Buy a steel "BB" and see if it fits....

The final list will likely be dominated by people whose names are familiar to respondents. If most respondents are typical collectors, then you'll find a greater proportion of dealer and "big" collector names as finalists. If more specialist and high-end collectors submit names, the list will be dominated by people who sell or write about specialty areas. And so forth....

Same as the 1964 quarter, perhaps a little less due to wear and loss of silver.

I thought that was some golf course in Florida....?

It's worth about 1 large Starbuck's exaggerated coffee.

The Mint Bureau's "burnished" surface was never technically defined, nor was it stabilized as a fixed die treatment. Hence it is largely meaningless as shown by the variety of the OP's "burnished eagle" surfaces.

Run over by a car -- or maybe rampaging elephants. No numismatic value. No 1963-D nickel is worth more than face value...excepting a few minor varieties and those are wroth a few cents only to those who enjoy finding them.

"Is this Half Sol from 1721 considered a 'US Colonial'?" No.

No guesses for now.

Genuine. Harshly cleaned and polished. Unlikely it will be accepted for certification by NGC or PCGS.

The best protection is to leave the coin in its original US Mint plastic (if any). Exposure to dust and dirt in the air has greater potential for spotting and other problems than leaving it alone. None of the TPG holders are completely inert, filled with pure nitrogen (or argon), or hermetically sealed. But - if you want to sell it for the most money, then buyers want in TPG plastic.

I want to examine a lot of coins before venturing a guess about cause. From only the photos above, I do not see the kind of scraping that would indicate an ejection (metal-against-metal) defect....but that's not definitive -- or even "finitive."

We must really honor our collective promise to provide veterans with first-class medical and psychological treatment and cultural understanding.

RE: "Probably because they were thinner coins, I wager." The nearly full-diameter obverse used a lot of metal, and placement of the eagle's body opposite Liberty's head forced metal away from the area above the wings. Bottom line: the design was unsuitable for such a small coin and there was not enough metal available to routinely fill the dies.

That's nice! Here is a link to a post on VAMworld about the earliest external mention, so far, of 7 and 8 TF 1878 Morgans, although this refers to wing placement. http://www.vamworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4524

All working dies are subject to the same range of possible defects: cracking, partial collapse, chipping, spalling, shattering in addition to setup and press defects. Larger dies - silver dollars, double eagles - have larger areas and show more problems than small coins. "Bleed through" is very unusual on most US coins. The most commonly seen are SL quarters which were described by Morgan as having the obverse shield show on the reverse.

RE: "Personally, I prefer swell foops, one or many, it doesn’t matter." "Fell Swoops." That's the new colorful breakfast cereal ! A fresh selection of chemicals in your bowl.

There is a fee for adding a name to the printed insert. Got the bucks? Get you name on a label.

Yes. "Provenance" is the correct term: a list of previous owners. "Pedigree" refers to reproductive lineage. Few coins reproduce....except in China and a village in Colorado.

Just Bob - You will also find additional information about the 8 and 7-TF hubs and the 7/8 dies in my book "Girl on the Silver Dollar." These are discussed in the chapter dealing with development of the dollar design.

Tail feather differences are hub/design changes and part of production changes. These are not die varieties. They were noticed within weeks of 1878 dollar release. I don't know when the 7/8 die varieties were first identified. It would be unfair to Coin World to present a summary here. There is a new thread on VAMworld and an older one with more information which members can view. (One could always subscribe to CW, too.....) Here's a link to the VAMworld thread: http://www.vamworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3468

RE: "I believe this all may be true circa 1964. The standards today are different. I have two TRULY specimen 50p “struck four times and handled with gloved hands” coins as part of the Royal Mint Experience. I had to pay £12.50 for each of those 50p coins. "Next year, when I (hopefully) finally get to do the Royal Mint VIP tour, we will be “up close and personal” in the proof coin die prep and striking rooms, but no products will even be possible to buy at all, at ANY price. We can buy all we want from the public sales room. If a coin lover wants to see proof production with his own eyes, he can’t do it at all in the USA. He has to go to South Wales." Standards have not changed at the US Mint or Royal Mint. Your specimen coins were clearly identified and documented as special in some way and you paid for that identification. That is exactly what is required as proof that any coin a TPG labels "specimen" or "special" is truly different, and not a product of ordinary production.