1880-S VAM-13

Description

One of the earliest documented varieties for the 1880-S Morgan Dollar, VAM-13 was discovered by Bill Fivaz in October 1973 and features a dash under the 8 combined with a doubled date. The dash — a short raised line beneath the second 8 — results from a die gouge, while the doubled date shows secondary impressions from hub displacement. Fivaz's discovery predates the formal VAM reference system, making this an entry rooted in the foundational era of Morgan Dollar variety research. Die-linkage analysis confirms that VAM-13 shares the same obverse die as the later-cataloged 1880-S VAM-95, establishing a connection between entries separated by decades. A duplicate alert flags VAM-14 as potentially describing the same die pair — reflecting the ongoing refinement process where early entries are reevaluated as attribution techniques improve. San Francisco struck Morgan Dollars prolifically in 1880, and the extensive catalog reflects both the large surviving population and the depth of research pioneered by Fivaz and his contemporaries.

External References