1878 Morgan Dollar - Reverse of 1878 - VAM-111

Description

Carrying the Reverse of 1878 die — identified by its parallel top tail feather arrangement — this 1878-P VAM-111 shares its catalog number with the Reverse of 1879 counterpart but represents a fundamentally different die combination. The obverse was discovered by Neil Shaffer in November 1964 and the reverse by Leroy Van Allen in December 1965. Classified 111 II/I 13 B2a, the defining features include slightly doubled LIBERTY on L, I, and B, plus doubled U and R in PLURIBUS with the R dropped below baseline. The parallel tail feather reverse — the original 1878 design before the slanted revision — anchors this variety in the first die configuration used for Morgan Dollar production under the Bland-Allison Act. Because two distinct reverse types exist under the same VAM-111 number, collectors must verify feather orientation to confirm which version they hold. The parallel feather reverse preceded the slanted arrangement chronologically, making this representative of earlier 1878 production before the Mint introduced the redesigned reverse. Die markers– Long die scratch from the outer point of the second (counting from the bottom) cotton leaf thru the right side of the lowest cotton leaf that further extends down to the cap band.

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