1878 Morgan Dollar - Reverse of 1878 - VAM-130A

Description

Sharing the same obverse die as its Reverse of 1879 counterpart, this 1878 Philadelphia Mint Morgan Dollar VAM-130A pairs instead with the Reverse of 1878 — the flat-breast eagle variety carrying seven tail feathers. The identical obverse die displays the same horizontal die gouge through lower IB in PLURIBUS and the same die chip in the lower Phrygian cap, confirming that a single obverse die was married to two different reverse dies during production. Classified as 130A II 1 B2a (Die Gouge IB, Die Chip Lower Cap) (180), this variety demonstrates the Mint's practice of rotating die pairings, where one obverse could serve with multiple reverses across a production run. The Reverse of 1878 is distinguished from the Reverse of 1879 by its flat eagle breast — a subtle but definitive difference that collectors must examine carefully to assign the correct VAM number. The existence of both pairings under the same VAM-130A designation makes reverse die identification critical, as the obverse alone cannot differentiate between the two varieties.

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