1884-S VAM-10

Description

Brent Fogelberg's March 2000 discovery, VAM-10 catalogs a Doubled Date, Far Date, with S Set Left on the 1884 San Francisco Morgan Dollar, classified III26 - C3d with an uncertain rarity rating. The obverse exhibits tops of all date digits slightly doubled combined with the date positioned further right than normal — two distinct die characteristics that overlap: the doubling originated during hub impression, while the far date position was established when the date was hand-punched into the die. San Francisco struck 3,200,000 Morgan Dollars in 1884, a relatively low mintage that makes even common VAM numbers for this date more challenging to locate than their Philadelphia counterparts. A notable die marker appears on early examples: a spike on the eagle's neck on the reverse, a die defect that presumably wore away during later die states, providing die state chronology information. The S mintmark set to the left adds a third positional anomaly to this already characterful die marriage. The III26 obverse classification places this among the higher-numbered obverse die categories for 1884-S, indicating extensive VAM research on this date. The far date position and doubled tops can be confirmed under moderate magnification, making VAM-10 accessible for intermediate collectors working through San Francisco Morgan Dollar varieties of the mid-1880s.

External References