1882-S VAM-37

Description

Discovered in August 2018 by Chris Simpson and revised in 2019, this San Francisco Mint 1882 Morgan Dollar is attributed as VAM-37 with die pair III2 24 and reverse C3a. The obverse die has been overpolished and is concave at the periphery, representing a later die state than VAM-36, which weakens the date doubling visible on the earlier state. The doubled date and Phrygian cap top that define the obverse are therefore subtler on VAM-37 than on its predecessor. Fine diagonal die polishing lines appear at the wing-neck gap on early die states, though these lines polish away on later states; an alternative marker consists of fine lines on the left side of the upper tail feathers. This obverse die was used across four distinct die marriages: VAM-36, VAM-36A, VAM-37, and VAM-37A, each paired with a different reverse die or documented at a different die state. The shared die across four VAM numbers illustrates how a single obverse could serve through multiple reverse pairings during San Francisco's production run, with progressive polishing altering the die's appearance at each stage.

External References