Owner Comments:
1921-D VAM-1A "TRU_T". Made popular by one of the leading VAM reference books, The Top 100 Morgan Dollar varieties: The VAM Keys, by Michael S. Fey, Ph.D. and Jeff Oxman, VAM-1A coins are among the most widely known of all 1921-D die varieties. This particular coin can be easily recognized with the naked eye as the S in Trust is completely missing on the reverse. A small amount of grease, used to lubricate the coining press, filled the letter on the die. When coins were struck with the greasy die, metal could not flow into the letter.
Unlike many of the die breaks and die gouges documented in this book, the die fill happened early in the life of this die. We can tell the dies were fresh since the coins exhibit prooflike reflective qualities, a trait uncommon on most 1921-Ds.
In 2004 it was finally noticed that there is a die gouge through the Eagle's tailfeathers and the vam is now actually VAM-1A2. Coins without the filled S of TRUST are VAM-1A1.
If you are interested in 1921-D varieties, I have an online attribution guide here:
http://www.rjrc.com/vams/1921_D_vams.htm