1890-S VAM-1C

Description

Discovered by Bill Van Note in January 2005, VAM-1C documents a late-stage die failure on the 1890 San Francisco Morgan Dollar, cataloged under die pair III2 1 with a C3a reverse. The reverse exhibits a die crack running through the tops of MERICA in AMERICA, continuing upward to the rim above M, with surface die breaks concentrated at the tops of MERIC. This pattern of progressive cracking — beginning as a through-crack and developing into displaced surface breaks — indicates a die retained in service well beyond the point where structural compromise first appeared. The C3a reverse links this die to a broader die-sharing network: VAM-1C shares its reverse with VAM-40 and VAM-40A, meaning the same cracked reverse was paired with at least three different obverse dies during its working life. Shared reverses are common in Morgan Dollar production, where the Mint economized by pairing surviving dies in new combinations as their partners wore out. The die crack through MERICA serves as a reliable diagnostic for identifying this reverse regardless of which obverse accompanies it, making the crack pattern a key attribution tool for 1890-S Morgan Dollar researchers.

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