powermad5000

Well, it seems you have already identified this coin correctly. Here is a link to it on Numista which has the weight, diameter, and thickness. There is a variety in the series for large lion and small lion but I don't see a designation for a difference in the lion for the year of your coin but if there is yours is the small lion. As for which mint it was made at, I am not sure as I don't see a mintmark or small dot on it. According to Numista, this coin in AU is listed for $8. In my humble opinion, your coin exhibits some very light circulation wear so I would put it at that grade level and approximate value. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces7178.html It is nearly impossible to tell if a coin is counterfeit from just a photo unless it is a very poor counterfeit with missing or altered details. Outside of that, it takes the coin being in hand to check weights, diameter, thickness, and if necessary tests to confirm its metal composition. I hope what I have provided you with the Numista link helps in your checking of these facts to determine its authenticity. I would guess you have less to worry about as this is not a typical target of counterfeiters although in these days you never know what someone will do next. I hope this helps.

My bad. It is not in order, at least not the way I would put it. And they are calling it Eye Spikes not Wild Eye which is probably why my eye didn't pick it up right away. Either way good sir, I still wouldn't bother with trying to cross this over just so the paper label says DETAILS on it. I just don't think it is worth spending the $$. It is your coin, however, and you can do what you like to do with it.

I could be wrong but if it is not listed on their Variety Plus page it is a variety they don't recognize. It might be in the registry set for those who have PCGS ones, but as far as NGC grading, they don't recognize every VAM just as they don't recognize every different variety on other series of coins. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.

I don't see any point in trying to cross this coin over to an NGC slab. In NGC's Variety Plus, they only list VAM 14.1 and 14.1A. It seems they don't recognize VAM 14.11 or it would be listed. That said, if you crossed this coin over, it would lose its current VAM designation. It has a really big rim ding that any grader would knock this coin down to a details grade without a straight numerical grade. As a collector of these, I have to say that rim ding would have caused me to pass by if it were a raw coin, regardless of the VAM designation. I also agree with @Coinbuf it also appears to have had a harsh cleaning. I think it has too many things going against it for you to spend any more extra money on plastic and a paper label.

The arrow in your photo is pointing at the small set of steps on the right side of Monticello. I also see the die chip between the building and the F of FS. Could you elaborate a little on what I am supposed to be focusing on?

I think what you are seeing are linear plating blisters. If I am wrong, the others will surely correct me. I also see a plating bubble under the Y in LIBERTY. I have seen many of these copper plated zinc cents of this era and especially the 90's with these linear plating blisters that can be in many different directions and found in differing areas on the coin, some short, some spanning across the entire coin from rim to rim.

Why do I see some of the silver look of the zinc showing through, especially on the rim? I have informed you before about posting about paper money in this forum. Great. I will wait until you return to this thread with a pic of the coin in the holder.

The one in this thread. As a matter of fact, all of the 1921 Morgans. Pre pandemic a 1921 (P) used to go for around $25-30 for an MS 62-63. Currently that price has doubled. And get into higher grades and sometimes it goes exponentially up. 1881 S is another one. You used to be able to get an MS 65 for about $175-$200 pre pandemic. I have seen auctions for one of these go as high as $400 in MS 65. It's across a lot of the series. And it is not just lowball Morgans. Even some of the higher dollar specimens have gone up by thousands at the gavel. Here's another. Try this. Go to the NGC Price Guide for Morgans and find 1883 CC. Click on the MS 63 Price. There are two spikes in it happening after the pandemic began. You can click on many others and see the same trends.

I shall maintain after collecting and studying coins for 45+ years, that I will stick to what I know. Like you said, we will agree to disagree. Good luck to you sir!

These "First Strikes" and others with signed labels and early releases and even one label numbered with 239 from the last coin struck, are all just marketing gimmicks that turned me off completely from collecting anything with these kinds of designations. It basically makes it near impossible for anyone to assemble a complete set if there are so many "labels" to collect and then to throw actual numbered examples into the mix just destroys any collecting commonalities. It also inflates prices for these pieces which in the end are merely bullion.

Uh oh! I think we are at the point of waking up @Henri Charriere on the difference in nomenclature between penny and cent!

Thank you for the additional photos. I think they confirm that the discolored dime is an acid reduced coin. The acid attacks the metal evenly so acid reduced coins will likely still have their edge reeding albeit weaker reeding than when the coin was initially struck. Depending on how the coin was laying and how long it sat in the acid can cause that spotty look. This coin probably didn't sit in the acid bath as long as some of the others we have seen here where the clad layer is completely missing on both sides and the reeding is almost nonexistent.

If you look at a lot of Lincoln Wheat Cents, you will notice many with "weak" lettering on the reverse on the opposite side of Lincoln's bust. It is an issue with the design of the cent and the amount of metal from the coin being struck that gets pushed into the die to form the bust of Lincoln on the obverse left less metal to flow into the design of the reverse die for the lettering to strike up fully. In laymen's terms, there is only so much metal to go around. You will see many Lincoln Wheat cents across all of the years they were made with weak lettering on the reverses. This effect was so pronounced in 1922 that you will see Lincoln Wheats graded with Strong Reverse and Weak Reverse on the labels in the slabs. This is not an error, but rather an issue the Mint had with the relief of the design.

I do agree. But as I have a diverse collection, on series that have lesser interest than Morgans such as some dimes and Franklin Halves for instance, when looking to fill slots with coins that are more populous in numbers and easier to obtain, I have found that I am still able to find and obtain some of these coins at undervalued prices.

I'm sorry, but I see heavy damage on this coin. It is possible it was a parking lot find at some point. Nothing in the Mint process would produce a coin that looks like this.

Hello and welcome! I think you may have a "combination" coin. The reverse has deep abrasions that would be in conjunction with a dryer coin, and the rim has the indications of a spooned coin. I guess it would be possible for someone to rescue a dryer coin and decide it is now not "good" anymore so to try to make something else out of it.

Hello and welcome to the forum! I think your coin may be acid reduced, but if you could, would you mind posting it next to any regular cash register change circulation dime? Also maybe put the normal dime under yours and take a picture of that too, so we can see if there is a noticeable difference in size?

There was a craze created by the pandemic and bored people on lockdown getting into coins. They started buying things up and paying more than price guide prices especially for Morgans. It is starting to come back down a bit, but I don't think we will ever see Morgans especially go back to pre-pandemic levels.

I am saddened to hear your feelings openly displayed here. I can only think there have been others who just made their exit without comment. You own your feelings and have a right to have those feelings. Nobody can change your feelings but yourself. I will say, maybe just try to look at things a little differently. Grading has been around basically since collecting began in the 1800's. TPG grading by contrast has only recently begun in the last about 30 years. There are many collectors and some on this board who do NOT submit a single coin nor own a single slab. They grade their coins themselves and their feeling is that works for them. I collected coins for almost 40 years without ever submitting a single coin. That did not mean what I collected had no worth. And I learned I had some really nice excellent coins and some that were just not so good. I collected those way back then because I wanted them, because I liked how they looked, because they interested me, not because I had to send them in. I also have learned a lot from just general collecting and also from grading. But grading in and of itself is not the be all end all of this hobby. What is is putting that last coin into an album that finally completes the journey of the album. What is is meeting other people and having interesting conversations about coins and collecting. What is is sitting down at a table and opening your coin box and remembering the places you went to find what you have and the stories attached to the coins in the box. Remember, if you do come onto here, and ask a question, you will get answers. Sometimes the answers are not what you might want to hear, but I would think you would like to get the truthful answer to a question rather than an answer that deceives. You can do as you wish, as is with all things in life. Just, there are things to consider in this hobby that have nothing to do with grading, and collecting can be done without it. Collecting can be done just because you like the way something looks. And that look does not have to be "perfect" either.

Hello and welcome to the forum! I am also in the camp of there being damage on the obverse from a coin roll wrapping machine. There are many different coins of different denominations out in the wild that have this mark on them to varying degrees. It is not an error, just damage.

I think it is. The OP's coin is worn down to VF and the photo provided by @cobymordet I believe is from NCG Variety Plus and is of a basically pristine example, not worn to VF like the OP's coin. To me, on the OP's coin, the left side of the 1 is showing the same marker. The 9 is worn and is not showing what would on a pristine example. The 4 has the tail of the other 4 matching that same marker as in the pristine example. As for the 2, even in the pristine example, the metal of the 1 at the left edge of the 2 is faint so on a VF it could just blend in. Also, the lighting in the OP's photo might be hiding that faint metal of the 1 in the shadows. I think it has enough similarities that would not be found on a plain 1942 D. Just my opinion.

It is listed currently at $80 in the NGC price guide. I don't care if the label is green, brown, or purple. The coin is the coin. I just did a search on eBay for a 1921 (P) Morgan on eBay in MS 63 and graded by NGC. Using price + shipping : lowest first, and using only Buy it Now listings, within less than one minute, I just located well over a dozen of these already graded by NGC in MS 63 for $50-60. Not all of them have the level of white this coin exhibits but some are very close to it, and many are nearly or are equivalent in eye appeal. If you really want one of these for your collection, I just saved you $20-$30.

Thank you for the reverse photo. Being so much metal was not struck on the obverse explains the weakness of the details on the obverse which would be indicative of a part of the die having broken off creating a rather large cud on your coin. I would say this is a legit error and a rather large cud as far as coins with those go. If you purchased this coin, it is a legit error in my humble opinion. If you got it out of circulation, even better, and congratulations as finding any errors in circulation is extremely unlikely, especially one such as this with an outstanding and not subtle feature on it. For your future posts, please try to provide clear, cropped photos of both sides of the coin, and in proper orientation. It only takes a second to turn the coin for proper top to bottom viewing. Think less background, and more coin and that you also would not want to view your coins sideways or upside down. Then your closeup of any feature in question can be under mag, but make sure it is not too close and too pixelated for us to see it. Excellent! We have an actual error!

If your nickel didn't exhibit any other abrasions, gouges, or other subsequent damage, I would have taken a look to see if it was a struck through error for being struck through a piece of wire or staple which has been known to happen at the Mint. View the coins in the link I have provided to error-ref.com for examples. You will note on those examples there is no raised metal at the edges of the indents, and also there is no scrape marks in the indent itself. https://www.error-ref.com/struck-through_wire/ When I look at the line in your coin, I can see scrape marks at the bottom of where you believe there to be a strike through by a staple. This tells me the mark was caused by a scrape, and not struck through a staple. Then combined with all the rest of the damage on it, it makes sense. It is a nickel that has seen some tough abuse. It is not an error, however.

First off, coins from the Mint are struck not stamped. That said, the coin you have actually is "stamped" (much like as in a counterstamp where someone punches their initials or a design into a coin already struck). It took me seconds to see the backwards image of a dime onto a nickel to send my brain right into vise job territory. Being there is a preponderance of posts like yours that appear here within a given year makes me wonder if there isn't another cutesy YoubeeTubee video showing how allegedly "cool" it is to make vise job coins in your garage. For the record, it is not cool or kewl for those of that era. You should keep in mind people can do some weird stuff to coins. Most of the time, only the person doing the damage can say why they did what they did. What we know is that damage is damage and sometimes people do these things as an experiment, sometimes to illegitimately make an "error" to defraud someone, or simply deface currency because they can.