1898-S VAM-13

Description

Discovered by Martin Field in June 1985, the 1898-S VAM-13 "S Tilted Right" Morgan dollar identifies a reverse die where the S mintmark leans noticeably to the right of vertical beneath the eagle's tail feathers on George T. Morgan's silver dollar design. Cataloged as 13 III2 1 · C3d (S Tilted Right) with die number 187, this variety pairs a standard Obverse III2 1 with a Reverse C3d distinguished by its tilted mintmark positioning. The obverse carries an additional diagnostic: a closed 9 in the date, where the loop of the numeral 9 is fully enclosed rather than showing the open gap characteristic of other obverse dies. San Francisco struck approximately 4.10 million Morgan dollars in 1898, a moderate mintage that places this date in the middle tier of S-mint production volumes. Martin Field's contributions to the VAM catalog span numerous dates and mints, with a research career extending from the 1970s through the 1990s that helped establish many of the foundational mintmark-position varieties now considered standard references. Mintmark tilt on Morgan dollars results from the hand-punching process used to add the mint identifier to each working die — the die sinker positioned a letter punch against the die surface and struck it with a hammer, and any angular deviation from perfectly vertical during this process produced a tilted mintmark that replicated on every coin struck from that die. The "tilted right" designation indicates the top of the S leans clockwise when the coin is viewed in standard orientation. The C3d reverse classification, distinct from the more common C3a and C3c types, may incorporate additional reverse die characteristics beyond the mintmark tilt. Collectors can identify this variety by examining the S mintmark orientation under 10x magnification, comparing the angle against a vertically-oriented reference line.

External References