1882-O VAM-30

Description

One of the earlier VAM discoveries for the 1882-O date, the VAM-30 Morgan Dollar was found by Martin Field in September 1979 and is classified as III2 21 - C3g with die pairing number 181, carrying the designation "Doubled 1-2, Dash, O/O Right." The obverse (III2 21) displays the numeral 1 doubled strongly below its upper crossbar and the 2 doubled slightly on the right side of its upper knob, while the second 8 shows a faint dash below its lower loop — three separate date digit anomalies on a single die that document the hub-to-die transfer geometry with precision. The dash below the lower loop of the second 8 is a particularly subtle marker that requires careful examination under magnification, appearing as a short linear impression that does not correspond to any design element. The reverse (C2g) features a repunched mintmark with the original O showing on the right side and at the top of the opening — an O/O Right variety where the first mintmark punch was placed slightly to the right of the final position, and the second punch partially obscured but did not completely eliminate the first impression. The combination of doubled date digits with a repunched mintmark creates a variety with diagnostic features on both sides of the coin, each produced by a different mechanism — the date doubling from hub transfer errors and the mintmark repunching from manual die preparation. The Morgan Dollar was designed by George T. Morgan and struck at the New Orleans Mint in 1882 from 90% silver at 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. The New Orleans Mint, operating with dies shipped from Philadelphia, frequently produced mintmark varieties because each O was individually hand-punched, and Martin Field's 1979 discovery of this variety demonstrates the deep roots of Morgan Dollar variety collecting that predate the formal VAMWorld online catalog by decades.

External References