What is this?

[Crohnos01]

I picked up a 1896 P Morgan off fleabay for a not too bad price. It has pretty good luster but is probably closer to a 60 rather than the 64 that I thought the photos showed. While I was looking the coin over under magnification, I noticed a line running between the T to the E and on to the D in United on the reverse. The line appears to be raised like a die crack might be, but very light. I tried to get photos under magnification, but I am not so great at that I guess. I looked at VAM world, but I didn't see anything to indicate that die cracks on the 1896 P Morgans. I am not really a Morgan expert or a VAM expert for that matter, but I know some of you are. Anyone want to take a crack at telling me what this might be based on not so great photos?

[PerryHall]

That is a die crack. Very common for coins from this era but interesting none the less and can be used to identify a specific die like a fingerprint.

[bsshog40]

Perry is correct. Die crack.

[cpm9ball]

When 130 or more tons of pressure is used to strike tens of thousands of planchets, you're bound to find die cracks on some of the coins. Die cracks are rarely attributable as a VAM, but can be used to help determine die state.

 

Chris

[James_OldeTowne]

It's a die crack in the fairly early stages. They will appear on literally millions and millions of the Morgan dollars still in existence, but it's still neat to find.

[messydesk]

When attributing Morgans to VAM variety, fine die cracks like these can be useful to confirm an attribution that was made using features that are listed in VAM, like doubled features, repunched dates and mint marks, heavy clashes, and date and mint mark position. Since die cracks tend to be unique, finding an exact match to a coin that's already been attributed gives you much higher confidence in your attriution. Some online photos of coins will show certain die cracks quite well, and once in a while these can be used for attribution when the other features aren't as visible.

[johnny9434]

die crack as stated by perry hall. no doubts

[Crohnos01]

Thanks! I thought it was a really early die crack, but I couldn't find anything to verify my suspicion. If anyone can point me towards information other than what's in VAM world, I'd appreciate it.

 

Thanks again