1924-P Peace Dollar - Shortened Rays - VAM?

nesvt

So the 1C is now the 8A, right? The VAM 8 is before the break in the hair?

What 1924-P VAM has a shortened ray behind the eagle's leg and shortened rays off the eagle's back?
Also has some die scratches in U of TRUST, and a die gouge in the eye.

reverse
obverse

Coxe

Yes, that is VAM-8. David Close and I discussed this 5 months ago. I have two of them in NGC66 slabs, which I believe are still the finest known but probably there are others in that grade at least. If yours is a certified gem or better, PM me and I will give you David's email address. He likes to get the tag numbers of the top ones for a census inventory. It is at least R-5 and a very good variety on its own. The hair break on the VAM-8A is very subtle and easily missed. Leroy has the 8 at R-5 and the 8A at R-6. However, we still do not know where in the balance of the production after the overpolishing the break occurred to determine which is indeed rarer. The 8A is likely the rarer one due to the numbers located (though remember these are hard to discern). But even if so, how much rarer is it?

John C

nesvt

Thanks! What's up with the VAM 8 description "Horizontal die crack thru eagle’s talons"? This coin doesn't have a die crack in that area.

Coxe

Norm -- I'lI looked at one of mine, which just happened to be here. I see no such crack. Leroy might have seen a later state. However, there is a rather long and obvious crack on the wing down toward the center top of the right leg. Get out your loupe and look for it. It is heavier than a simple die scratch. -- John C

I think that "gouge" under the eye is a dig in the coin itself on your specimen. They can be tough to figure out sometimes, but I am pretty certain of it.

nesvt

Thanks again John. I don't see any crack in the location you mentioned. Without magnification, I don't see any die cracks on the reverse. Under a microscope, I can see a small diagonal die crack through the E of ONE. That's it. Maybe my coin is an earlier die state? Even with the shortened rays on the eagle's back?

Coxe

I looked more closely and these are die scratches, probably part of the clash polishing, and there are a few notable ones. They are very difficult to see and might not be visible at all in coins with wear or weaker strikes. You can see all of the scratches from the polishing in your image of the rays. There are a few on the eagle and probably all over the place. It is a VAM-8, despite Leroy's observation of that horizontal crack. I have a horizontal crack, but I thought it was on the coin, not the die. Might be a die defect. You be the judge.

-- John C