1883 Morgan Dollar - VAM-25

Description

Identified by Tom Wethern in 2013, the 1883-P VAM-25 Morgan Dollar carries the designation "Doubled Ear & 3," documenting two distinct areas of hub doubling on the obverse die. The ear shows doubling at the right inside edge accompanied by heavy die pitting, while the 3 in the date is slightly doubled at the top of the ball on the right side. Plate notation 25 III2 25 - C3a places this variety in the III2 obverse class with a C3a reverse die. The heavy die pitting around the ear provides an especially useful die marker, as pitting patterns are unique to individual dies and serve as reliable secondary diagnostics even when the primary doubling is worn. Philadelphia's 1883 Morgan Dollar production exceeded twelve million business strikes, yet VAM-25 went undocumented for 130 years before Wethern identified the die. The III2 classification indicates doubling from slight hub misalignment during die preparation, where multiple impressions from the master hub were required to fully sink the design into the working die. Attribution requires examining both the ear and the date under magnification.

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