1896-P VAM-15

Description

Discovered by Martin Field in December 1978, this 1896 Philadelphia Mint Morgan Dollar carries the VAM-15 designation for its distinctive doubled and tripled date digits. The obverse die shows the numeral 1 doubled below the upper crossbar, a faint doubling at the top outside of the 9, and most notably a tripling at the top outside of the upper loop of the 6. Classified as III2 15 under the C3a reverse pairing, this variety occupies die marriage number 191 in the VAM catalog. The Die Pair Information System rates this as LE3/RE4, indicating a mid-range obverse die paired with a late-state reverse. Tripled digits on Morgan Dollars are uncommon because they require three separate impressions from the hub that each leave distinguishable traces — most doubled dies show only two impressions. The 1896 Philadelphia issue had a mintage of approximately 9.98 million pieces, making it a readily available date in the Morgan series, though VAM-15 specimens with clearly visible tripling on the 6 are far scarcer than the host coin's total production would suggest. Attribution requires magnification of at least 5x to confirm the separation between the second and third impressions on the 6.

External References