1892-CC VAM-8

Description

Discovered by Martin Field in October 1979, the 1892-CC VAM-8 "Far Date" Morgan dollar identifies a date position variety from the Carson City Mint — one of the most sought-after mint facilities in American numismatics. Cataloged as 8 III2 5 · C3a (Far Date) with obverse die number (177), this variety documents a date positioned far to the right of standard placement, with the additional diagnostic that both the 8 and 9 digits in 1892 exhibit die chips in their lower loops. The Carson City Mint, operating from 1870 to 1893 in Nevada, produced silver dollars from ore mined in the nearby Comstock Lode, and the CC mintmark has become the most recognized and coveted mint identifier in the Morgan dollar series. Carson City struck only approximately 1.35 million Morgan dollars in 1892, a relatively low mintage reflecting the facility's declining operations in its penultimate year of coin production — the mint would close permanently after 1893. Martin Field's 1979 discovery came during the early growth period of VAM collecting, when researchers were systematically examining CC-mint Morgans because their lower mintages made comprehensive die pair documentation more achievable than for the high-volume Philadelphia issues. The far date and die-chipped digit combination provides a dual diagnostic: the rightward date displacement establishes the variety identity, while the die chips in the lower loops of 8 and 9 offer confirmation points visible under 10-15x magnification. The III2 obverse classification with die number 5 and C3a reverse pairing place this within the broader 1892-CC die variety framework. DPIS and emission sequence data remain unlisted, awaiting future research. For collectors, any CC-mint Morgan dollar variety commands premium interest, and the low 1892-CC mintage amplifies the significance of each documented die pair.

External References