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

Description

Listed under the Reverse of 1878 parent, this Philadelphia Mint Morgan Dollar shares the VAM-130B designation with its Reverse of 1879 counterpart, reflecting the same obverse die paired with a different reverse type. Discovered by C. Logan McKechnie in September 2005 and revised by John Roberts in February 2007, the variety is classified as II 1, B2a with die pair number 194. The obverse carries a short spike above the front of the eyelid and slight doubling on the chin front, sharing these diagnostics with VAM-185A. The reverse exhibits two nearly semi-circular die gouges on the eagle's left wing near the neck-wing junction, along with overpolishing at the eagle's right wing-leg junction. Struck in 90% silver (0.7734 oz ASW) at Philadelphia, the 1878 Morgan Dollar was the debut year of George T. Morgan's design. The Reverse of 1878 represents the earliest tail feather configuration used during inaugural production, before refinements led to the Reverse of 1879 subtype. This listing documents the VAM-130B die marriage paired with the original 1878 reverse type, distinguishing it from the Reverse of 1879 pairing that shares the same obverse die.

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