1894-O VAM-6

Description

Discovered by Guy Messing in October 1975, the 1894-O VAM-6 "Very Near Date" Morgan dollar identifies a distinctive date placement diagnostic on George T. Morgan's silver dollar obverse. Cataloged as 6 III2 4 - C3a (Very Near Date) with catalog number 181, this variety features a date positioned significantly further left than normal on the Obverse III2 4 die — a placement anomaly that results from the hand-punching process used to add date numerals to each working die individually during the late nineteenth century. New Orleans struck approximately 1.72 million Morgan dollars in 1894, one of the lower O-mint production figures in the series, making it a date that already carries above-average collector interest independent of any variety attribution. The "Very Near Date" designation indicates the leftward shift brought the date numerals closer to the adjacent design elements than the standard positioning — a diagnostic that can be verified by comparing the spacing between the date and Liberty's lower neck truncation or the rim against reference images from other 1894-O die marriages. Guy Messing, alongside other early VAM researchers of the 1970s, helped establish the foundational catalog entries that transformed Morgan dollar collecting from a date-and-mintmark pursuit into the comprehensive die marriage study it has become. The Obverse III2 4 classification identifies this specific obverse die within the broader die numbering system, while the C3a reverse designation indicates a standard reverse pairing. DPIS (Die Pair Identification System) entries and emission sequence data for both obverse and reverse remain undocumented, leaving the die usage chronology open for future research.

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