1889-O VAM-8

Description

Discovered by Leonard Hinckley in February 1974, VAM-8 on the 1889-O Morgan Dollar is cataloged as III2 5 - C3e with an (181) interest level, documenting a distinctive mintmark positioning anomaly: the O mintmark set high and tilted slightly to the right. The obverse die (III2 5) carries a closed 9 in the date — a die state characteristic where the interior loop of the numeral 9 appears partially or fully filled, often due to die polish or metal flow. The reverse die (C3e) exhibits the high-set, right-tilted O mintmark that defines this variety, a positioning anomaly that occurred because New Orleans Mint engravers manually punched mintmarks into each working die, and slight variations in placement angle and depth were inevitable across a production die population. Commentary notes indicate that VAM-8 appears to share the exact same die pair as VAM-23/23A — a die match observation that, if confirmed, would link these varieties as die states of a single die pair rather than independent die combinations. The 1889-O Morgan Dollar is one of the most conditional-rarity-driven dates in the series, with common availability in circulated grades but extreme scarcity in gem uncirculated condition, making the identification of specific die pairs through VAM attribution particularly valuable for population analysis. The New Orleans Mint operated during this period under the supervision of the Treasury Department, and its Morgan Dollar production contributed to the massive silver dollar stockpiles that would later be distributed through General Services Administration sales in the 1970s. The high-set tilted mintmark is best observed under 5x-10x magnification relative to the wreath bow.

External References