[ToddPollock] Source for these mintage 1-2 coins is?

[Wondercoin] I don't have the books the article cites but if anyone does and could check them and report back it would be much appreciated. I haven't had any luck searching the Smithsonian web archive either.

You can measure the heat capacity with a calorimeter.

You can measure the density with a specific gravity test if your scale is accurate enough. Was this possible before digital scales?

Great idea! Thanks for the tip!!!! Makes total sense.

bravo! this is exactly what I was looking for! Just out of curiosity and an abundance of caution, do you have any slabs you've tried this on a year or more later to be sure there's no adverse reaction?

[Mr_Spud] this gives me an idea, could you put a wedge of clear plastic with oil between it and the slab and do axial lighting photography without the glare ruining the shot??

[FriendlyEagle7] Just wipe it off good and no issues. Dont let the oil dry on the slab (this takes a long time). Get the clearest household cooking oil you see on the shelf. Normally cheap veggie oil or peanut oil.

[FriendlyEagle7] I’m not sure about the axial lighting question but it works great for getting rid of glare and makes clear plastic invisible. I’ve been using the compass oil since January of 2022 (the Amazon screenshot shows that date, that’s how I know) and no problems with the slabs. Before that I was using mineral oil, but I switched to the isoparrafin Compass oil and I like it better because any residue dries quicker. Just blot it up with a paper towel after you take your pictures and any residue evaporates. I also use it on slabs with no scratches because of how it makes the glare go away. It also allows me to move the lights closer to the coin without getting a light reflection on top of part of the coin. It makes the light reflection bend around the coin. Like the iPhone picture I attached shows how the reflection bends around the coin along the perimeter of the oil. Without the oil the light would be reflecting on top of the edge of the coin with them so close to the camera lense.

thanks, but can you tilt the slab to get a picture of the edges? that's what I'm curious about

sure, but like modern coins there is much more pressure in a proof strike so the planchet completely fills the collar, hence the finning on proofs where some metal is squeezed out from between the collar and die, so the reeding on modern proofs is perfectly square and on business strikes more rounded. I just wanted to see pictures of Morgan proof reeding to verify. I would expect the number of reeds to be the same. Do any specimen strike Morgans exist, that is more pressure but unpolished dies?

[FriendlyEagle7] There are Morgans that are not proofs that are obviously special, but they weren't struck on the medal presses like the actual proof coins. I don't have pictures of the edges of any of them, as I've only seen them in slabs. There are 1878 VAM 9 and 1878-S VAM 58 coins that fall into this category. Both look to have been struck with special care on regular production presses. The 1878 was struck at a lower speed, if we're to believe newspaper reports of its production, which would give a better chance for the planchet to fill the dies without changing the pressure. The term "specimen strike" or "special strike" could be used to cover any number of deviations from normal business strike or proof strike production, including die preparation, planchet preparation, handling, press configuration. Unfortunately, these are almost never documented in mint records.

Tried that, couldn't find a match. I'm just wondering if the edges are like Ikes or Kennedy halves, where there is a clear difference in the reeding of business and proof strikes.