1904 (O) Morgan Dollar - VAM-27

Description

Martin Field's March 1983 discovery of the 1904-O VAM-27 Morgan dollar established this variety's distinctive doubled AR in the inscription DOLLAR, accompanied by a mintmark tilted slightly to the left. Cataloged as 27 III3 1 · C4i (Doubled AR) with die pair number 181, this variety pairs an Obverse III3 1 with a Reverse C4i that carries both the doubled lettering and tilted mintmark diagnostics. George T. Morgan's silver dollar was struck in substantial quantities at the New Orleans Mint in 1904, with a mintage of approximately 3.72 million coins — the final year of regular Morgan dollar production before the extended hiatus that would last until the single-year revival in 1921. The doubled AR diagnostic appears at the bottom of the letters in DOLLAR on the reverse, where slight hub doubling displaced the secondary impressions of these two letters just enough to be detectable. The C4i reverse classification identifies a specific die type within the C4 reverse hub family, and the tilted O mintmark — leaning slightly to the left of vertical — provides an independent confirmation diagnostic resulting from the hand-punching process used to add mintmarks to each working die individually. Martin Field contributed numerous Morgan dollar VAM discoveries during the early 1980s, a period when the systematic cataloging of die varieties was accelerating beyond the foundational work of Van Allen and Mallis. New Orleans Morgan dollars from the final production year carry historical significance as products of a mint that would cease coinage operations entirely in 1909. Collectors should examine the bottoms of A and R in DOLLAR under 15-20x magnification, then confirm by checking the O mintmark's leftward tilt beneath the eagle's tail feathers.

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