1878-S VAM-2
Error
Description
=1878-S VAM-2 Broken R in Trust= Discovered by Howard Newcomb, February 1913. 2(revised) II 1 · B2b (Broken R in Trust) (184) Reverse B2b– Same as B2a, but with die fill on arm of r in Trust which can be partial or completely missing. (A hub break since it also appears on some 1878 P 7 TF & 1879 S). Comments: # VAM 2 was first listed in the first VAM book in 1965 at the dawn of the study of Morgan dollar die varieties when the broken 'r' was noticed. Since then, closer examination of 1878-S dollars has shown that the broken 'r', which is a hub defect, is on many 1878 reverse dies. For 1878-S, ''all'' of these have additional features, often a hand-engraved feather or feathers where the eagle's right wing meets the leg, sometimes a repunched mint mark, sometimes doubling on the obverse. Because of these additional features, they are listed as different VAM numbers. While it was possible that a true VAM 2 existed, rather exhaustive recent research has shown that it doesn't. Older third party graded coins that say VAM 2 were not attributed knowing what we know today about these coins. If you think you have VAM 2, ask for help on the discussion board with attributing your coin.