1904-S VAM-4

Description

Discovered by Jim Baxter in March 1979, this San Francisco Mint Morgan Dollar is cataloged as die pair 189 under Classification III2 1 - C4/C3b, known as the 2 Olive Reverse. The defining feature is a shallow extra olive connected to the olive branch on the right side of the reverse, accompanied by doubling at the base of all three olive clusters, the back of the lower arrowhead, feathers at the top of the eagle's left wing, and the right side of the eagle's nostril and eye. Additional doubling appears on the lower right portions of OD WE TR in the motto. The S mintmark is centered and tilted right. Struck in 90% silver (0.7734 oz ASW), the 1904-S carried a mintage of 2,304,000 pieces, making it one of the scarcer dates in the final production year of the original Morgan Dollar run before the 1921 resumption. Baxter's 1979 discovery of the extra olive detail preceded the modern era of high-resolution die variety photography, yet the feature remains readily identifiable on well-preserved specimens. The combination of the extra olive, broad doubling across multiple reverse elements, and tilted mintmark makes VAM-4 one of the more visually distinctive 1904-S die marriages.

External References