1921 Morgan Dollar - VAM-1BS

Description

Discovered in June 2022 by Brent Fogelberg, the 1921-P VAM-1BS Morgan Dollar is designated IV 1 - D1a for Scribbling Scratches #169. Die polishing lines on Liberty's nose serve as the obverse die marker, while the reverse shows fine die scratches running in various directions on over-polished tail feathers around the eagle's right leg — the characteristic "scribbling" pattern that occurs when Mint personnel aggressively polished the die surface with abrasives, leaving multi-directional scratch patterns instead of the uniform parallel lines typical of more careful die maintenance. The sequential number #169 in the scribbling scratches series indicates extensive documentation of similar maintenance-related die features across the 1921 Morgan Dollar production. As with all 1921 Morgan Dollars, dates were incorporated into the master die, eliminating individual die date placement variation and rendering the DPIS system inapplicable. The enormous 1921 mintage required hundreds of die pairs, and the frequency of scribbling scratch varieties from this year reflects the intense production pressure on the Mint's die maintenance program.

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