1882-S VAM-8

Description

The earliest of the 1882-S Morgan dollar doubled die varieties in this group, VAM-8 was discovered by Margaret Prang in February 1974. Catalogued as 8 III2 7 C3a — Doubled 8-2 — the obverse III2 7 shows the first 8 doubled on the inside of its upper loop, and the 2 doubled faintly at the top outside. The 82 portion of the date is notably shallow in relief, a die characteristic that helps identify this specific working die. The reverse C3a places the mintmark centered and upright; this same C3a reverse was also used in the production of 1882-S VAM-11, providing a cross-reference point for reverse die identification. The 1882-S Morgan dollar population is home to many attributed varieties, and Prang's 1974 discovery came during the early years of organized Morgan dollar variety research, before the Van Allen-Mallis reference consolidated known attributions. The shallow 82 die characteristic reflects gradual relief sinking in working dies over a production run at the San Francisco Mint. # Exact same obverse die used to produce 1882-S VAM-8, 1882-S VAM-11 & 1882-S VAM-22.

External References