Help identifying 1971-D Ike variety

HolyHackJack

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emzee

Obverse is "one-hairstrand" variety, indicating previous clashrepolish of obverse die. The "strand" is a down-pointing triangle on forehead of Ike.

IkesT

@HolyHackJack said:
Hey everyone,

Odds that I have some sort of missing link prototype? Pretty much zero, but I am curious as to what's going on with it as I've never seen one quite like it before marked as a 71-D and it does share a surprisingly large number of features between the confirmed Ike prototypes. I'm talking about things like the heavy die polish lines, near-peg-leg with die abrasions south of it, the matte finish, slight cameo appearance on the reverse, serifs matching (not all of them, though hypothetically it wouldn't be exactly the same as the others anyways afaik). Any help would be appreciated. Btw - weight is 22.6 Thanks!

First of all, there are no 71-D prototypes. You have a perfectly normal business strike 71-D. Both sides appear to be late die state, with evidence of die erosion. The obverse die appears to have been polished and then heavily eroded through extended usage. Neither that nor anything else on the coin is special or unusual for a business strike Ike.

I have said this before on the Forum and I will say it again. If you're interested in varieties, you are better off studying known varieties and searching for those. Along the way, you'll learn to better recognize the pickup points that separate them from other coins. Looking at every random coin as if it might be a new variety will most likely get you nowhere. Also, start with easy to ID varieties. Jumping into the deep end and looking for very difficult varieties will likely end in frustration.

If you really want to search 71-D Ikes, you can look for the Friendly Eagle variety. It's relatively common (about 1 in 30 to 1 in 50 coins), which could make it a good beginner variety. On the other hand, beginners may have difficulty recognizing the pickup points for this variety, in which case they may want to start with other varieties where the pickup points are more obvious.

MarkKelley

In that era, all dies were made in Philadelphia so there would be no prototypes made at either branch mint.

BuffaloIronTail

If you are hinting at the coin being a doubled die, it isn't.

All of the doubling is shelf-like, with no split serifs.

The real tip-off would be the "doubling" on the mintmark. The mintmark was hand impressed in the die after it was completed.

If your coin was a true doubled die, the mintmark (which was applied later) would NOT be doubled.

Hope this helps.

Pete

Eighteen63

The Wall Drug approach…6 dozen photos is unnecessary when one clear photo of the obverse and one of the reverse would’ve sufficed.

ricko

@HolyHackJack.... Welcome aboard. Wow! I think you may have set a record for the quantity of photo's in a thread. @IkesT gave you very good direction and information above. Have fun, it is a great hobby. Cheers, RickO

19Lyds

@IkesT said:

I have said this before on the Forum and I will say it again. If you're interested in varieties, you are better off studying known varieties and searching for those. Along the way, you'll learn to better recognize the pickup points that separate them from other coins. Looking at every random coin as if it might be a new variety will most likely get you nowhere. Also, start with easy to ID varieties. Jumping into the deep end and looking for very difficult varieties will likely end in frustration.

Absolute Words of Wisdom! There are sooooo many anomalies and varieties with the IKE Dollar that you could spend a lifetime chasing down each and every coin you come across. More often than not, as I have experienced, you end up chasing your own tail!

However, follow IkesT's words and you'll end up with the experience and some really cool coins.