1899-O VAM-36

Description

Discovered by Marc Serafine in January 2002, the 1899-O VAM-36 is a Morgan dollar variety struck at the New Orleans Mint, designated as Bar 9 Over 9 with Near Date. Classified as 36 III221 - C3a, this variety features a distinctive repunched date characteristic that makes it one of the more diagnostically interesting 1899-O Morgans. The Morgan dollar was composed of 90% silver and 10% copper, weighing 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter and a reeded edge. The New Orleans Mint, which operated from 1838 to 1909, struck 12,290,000 Morgan dollars in 1899, a solid production figure for this facility. The obverse die, classified as III221, displays the variety's defining features: the last 9 in the date has a raised curved bar within its lower loop, accompanied by polishing lines that may derive from the bottom of either the upper or lower loops. This raised bar is likely a remnant of a previous 9 punched at a slightly different position, with the bar representing a portion of the underlying first impression that was not fully obliterated during die preparation. Additionally, the last 9 has a spike at the lower left in the upper loop, another trace of the repunching process. The date is set further left than normal, classified as a near date variety, which adds a positional diagnostic to the die's attribution profile. The Date Position in the Guide (DPIS) is recorded as B23C, a reference coordinate used in the VAM cataloging system to precisely document the date's location relative to standard positioning. The reverse die is classified as C3a, a normal die type. The combination of the bar-in-9 repunching, the spike feature, and the near date positioning provides collectors with multiple diagnostic markers for identifying this variety, making VAM-36 one of the more visually distinctive date-punch varieties among the New Orleans Morgan dollars.

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