Cool Tool for Morgan Collectors

[cpm9ball]

In another thread, I mentioned that I purchased Mark Kimpton's book, Elite Clashed Morgan Dollars . In it, he describes a tool that was designed by Terry Forfa to help you visualize the obverse/reverse alignment of clashes. It is composed of two 4" (approximate) discs of plexiglas sandwiched together on a central axis. The obverse and reverse designs of the Morgan are laser-etched into each half of the tool and the denticles on the outer ring allow you to rotate the halves in 2.4 degree increments to simulate any rotation of the dies.

 

I contacted Terry and he responded immediately. I also asked Terry if it would be okay to post this information, here. He is selling the tool for $18, which includes shipping. If anyone is interested, you can contact Terry by e-mail: TJ4FA@hotmail.com

 

I can't wait to get mine!

 

Chris

[Brotherman]

How cool!

I've got to get one of these!!

 

Hays

[Becky-migration]

I love mine!!

 

 

[zrlevin]

I don't understand, are you supposed to put the coin inside the tool?

[MunkyMan95]

I think it's just a reference piece if you think you have a clashed dies variety.

[cpm9ball]

I don't understand, are you supposed to put the coin inside the tool?

 

No, if you have a Morgan that looks like it may have a die clash, you can rotate the two halves of the tool and visualize how both dies aligned when the clash occured. As a rule, if the dies have clashed there are one or two obvious marks transferred to the planchet. One is on the obverse and it looks like a "spike" protruding from Liberty's neck in a southwesterly direction. The other is on the reverse and looks like a "vee" laying on its side. You can find this mark between the eagle's wing and the wreath on the right. These clashes are fairly common and easily seen without the use of a loupe. If you spot these, you can start looking at other areas of the coin for more clashes.

 

Chris

[zrlevin]

I don't understand, are you supposed to put the coin inside the tool?

 

No, if you have a Morgan that looks like it may have a die clash, you can rotate the two halves of the tool and visualize how both dies aligned when the clash occured. As a rule, if the dies have clashed there are one or two obvious marks transferred to the planchet. One is on the obverse and it looks like a "spike" protruding from Liberty's neck in a southwesterly direction. The other is on the reverse and looks like a "vee" laying on its side. You can find this mark between the eagle's wing and the wreath on the right. These clashes are fairly common and easily seen without the use of a loupe. If you spot these, you can start looking at other areas of the coin for more clashes.

 

Chris

 

Oh, okay, that's pretty cool!