1881-CC VAM-5

Description

Martin Field's December 1978 discovery documented a CC mintmark tilted slightly to the left on this 1881 Carson City Morgan Dollar, classified IIII21 - C3b (178). The Carson City Mint, nestled in the Nevada capital near the Comstock Lode silver deposits, struck 296,000 Morgan Dollars in 1881 — one of the lower CC-mint production figures that makes every 1881-CC variety inherently scarce compared to Philadelphia or New Orleans counterparts. The reverse C3b designation identifies the centered but left-tilted CC mintmark, a positional anomaly arising from the hand-punching process where a mint worker pressed the conjoined CC punch into the working die at a slight angle. The obverse is classified III21 as a normal die of the III2 type, meaning the primary collecting interest centers on the reverse mintmark tilt. An intriguing comment in the original documentation suggests VAM-5 may prove to be a late die state of 1881-CC VAM-6, a determination that would consolidate two catalog entries into a single die marriage documented at different stages of deterioration. Mintmark position varieties on Carson City Morgans command particular collector attention because the CC mark itself is the most prized mintmark in the Morgan Dollar series, and any positional anomaly adds dimension to an already desirable issue.

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