1878 Morgan Dollar - Reverse of 1879 - VAM-210A

Description

Discovered by Leroy Van Allen in December 1965 during the foundational era of Morgan Dollar die variety research, the 1878-P VAM-210A Line Through R documents a diagonal line passing through the R and extending to the top of the T in LIBERTY on the obverse. Classified as II 2 - C2a (Line Through R) under catalog number 179, this unusual feature may represent a die scratch, die crack, or engraving anomaly that created a visible line across two letters of the primary obverse inscription. A small die chip between the left two tail feathers on the reverse serves as a secondary die marker for attribution. Notably, this obverse die is shared with VAM-195A and VAM-131B — meaning the same obverse die was paired with at least three different reverse dies during production, creating three distinct VAM numbers that share identical obverse characteristics. The 1878-P Morgan Dollar represents the inaugural year of the series, struck at the Philadelphia Mint under the Bland-Allison Act that required the Treasury to purchase and coin silver. The first-year date has attracted extraordinary research attention, and the VAM numbering reaching into the 200s demonstrates the depth of cataloging for 1878-P die varieties. Die-sharing documentation like the connection to VAM-195A and VAM-131B is one of the most valuable contributions of VAM research, revealing the production sequences and die pairing patterns used at the Mint.

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