1921-D VAM-1AF1

Description

Dennis Halladay's May 2024 discovery of the 1921-D VAM-1AF1 represents one of the most recently cataloged Morgan Dollar die varieties, demonstrating that new VAMs continue to surface on even the most heavily studied dates more than a century after production. Classified as IV 1 - D2a with the diagnostic description "Scribbling Scratches" and assigned die pair number 189, this variety belongs to the final year of Morgan Dollar coinage — a year when the Denver Mint struck 20,345,000 silver dollars under the terms of the Pittman Act, which had authorized the melting of 270 million silver dollars during World War I and mandated their replacement. The obverse carries die state IV 1 with no additional distinguishing markers beyond its die pair assignment. The reverse, cataloged as D2a, displays fine die scratches running in various directions across the over-polished tail feathers around the eagle's right leg and between the eagle's left wing and body. These "scribbling scratches" — an evocative descriptor coined by VAM researchers — formed when a Mint employee polished the die to extend its working life, using an abrasive medium that left multi-directional scratch patterns embedded in the die surface. Such polishing was routine practice to remove clash marks or minor deterioration, but the resulting surface texture transferred to every coin struck from the die. The 1921-D Morgan is the only Denver Mint Morgan Dollar, making any new VAM discovery on this date particularly noteworthy for the completeness of the Denver attribution catalog.

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