1881-O VAM-21

Description

Discovered by Martin Field in December 1980, this VAM-21 variety on the 1881 New Orleans Mint Morgan Dollar is classified as 21 III2 1 C3h, with the primary diagnostic being an O mintmark doubled on the middle and top right side of the opening — an O/O Top Right repunched mintmark. In the pre-1990 era before mintmarks were added to the master die, each working die received its mintmark by hand-punching, and a second or corrective punch that did not perfectly align with the first created the visible doubling on the O. The reverse die (C3h) is documented as shared with 1881-O VAM-10 and 1881-O VAM-21, demonstrating the Mint's practice of pairing reverse dies with multiple obverse dies during production. The 1881-O Morgan Dollar was struck at the New Orleans Mint — a facility that operated from 1838 to 1909 and produced coins prized for their Southern provenance and frequently distinctive strike quality. The 1881-O date had a mintage of approximately 5.7 million pieces, making it a common date in the Morgan series but one where die varieties like repunched mintmarks add collectible premium. The VAM classification system catalogs the obverse as III2 1, indicating a normal die with no significant obverse variety beyond the standard design. Repunched mintmark varieties on New Orleans Morgan Dollars are particularly sought after because the hand-punching process introduced variability that modern die preparation has eliminated.

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