Owner Comments:
Circulation Strike Mintage 3,853,040
In my research on this coin's year/mintmark, I read that sharpness ran the gamut from sharp strike with rich luster to downright unsatisfactory all around. So I set out cherrypicking to find a coin with good eye appeal and I found it to be somewhat of a challenge.
Both the obverse and reverse show signs of wear, with the high points of the design showing some softening of these design elements. The areas of interest (as described in the introduction to this registry set) were relatively strong and clear on the obverse, with 80% of the details of Liberty's head and about 60% of Liberty's left hand present. On the reverse, the Eagle's left leg was missing most of its feathers which I suppose brought the grade down.
Numismatic News: Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins (1988) states "Without AW monogram presently extremely rare (4-6 known?)....Weak AW monogram exist throughout the series, due to die preparation, not the striking of the coins. The only AW variations of general interest to collectors are the 1941 Proof without the monogram and the 1944-D with hand engraved AW monogram" Both coins (the 1941 Proof absent the AW monogram, and the 1944-D but without the hand engraved AW monogram) are included in my registry sets and are very interesting. Please look at them both.
This 1918-D example has a relatively strong AW monogram.