1879-P VAM-102A

Description

John Grimmer, known in the VAM community as UncleGildy, discovered this Philadelphia Mint Morgan dollar variety in November 2018. Designated VAM-102A under classification III2 91 with a C3a reverse die, the variety carries the descriptive title "Doubled 879, Profile & Cap Top, Clashed Obverse n." The obverse is a clashed die, displaying a faint partial incuse impression of the lowercase letter n from the word "In" on the reverse, transferred to the area adjacent to Liberty's neck edge when the dies struck each other without an intervening planchet. This clashed letter remnant, though subtle, is the primary pickup point distinguishing the 102A sub-variety from its parent VAM-102. The doubled digits 879 in the date and the doubling on Liberty's profile and cap top provide additional verification under higher magnification. The 1879 Philadelphia Morgan dollar had a substantial mintage of 14.807 million pieces, the third year of the Morgan series following the passage of the Bland-Allison Act in 1878. Triple-digit VAM numbers in any date indicate the depth of die variety study for that issue, and the 1879-P has been particularly productive for researchers cataloging minor die variations.

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