1921S-100DER-002T Trail Die Reverse

Description

Identified as a trail die reverse, the 1921-S Morgan Dollar 1921S-100DER-002T preserves evidence of a die-making error distinct from die clashes or doubled dies. A trail die impression occurs during the hubbing process — when a working hub sinks the design into a working die — if one die is accidentally struck by another die rather than by the hub. The result is a faint, ghostly impression of a die's design overlapping at an offset angle on the affected surface, which then transfers to every coin struck from it. Unlike a die clash, where obverse and reverse dies contact each other during coining, a trail die originates in the die shop before the die ever reaches a coining press. The 1921-S Morgan Dollar represents the final year and final San Francisco production of the Morgan series, in continuous production since 1878 except for a hiatus from 1905 to 1920. Morgan's design was revived briefly in 1921 using Pittman Act silver before being permanently replaced by de Francisci's Peace Dollar later that year. The T suffix in the catalog number confirms the trail die classification, and the 100DER designation indicates a dollar denomination reverse die variety.

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