1921-D VAM-1BE

Description

John Kohut identified the 1921-D VAM-1BE Morgan Dollar in October 2004, classified as 1BE IV 1 D2a (Strike Thru with Missing D) with die pairing number 189. This variety documents a striking error rather than a die manufacturing variety — the reverse (D2a) displays a large circular strike-through from foreign material (scrap metal) on the left side, which weakened the strike on the lower wreath and the letters E-DO, with the Denver mintmark D completely absent from the struck coin due to the intervening material blocking the die's impression in that area. The catalog explicitly notes this is "a striking error" to distinguish it from die varieties where the anomaly is permanently part of the die itself and appears on every coin struck from it. An important community notation states this VAM is based on obsolete criteria, signaling that the attribution standards under which it was originally cataloged have since been revised — a reflection of the VAM community's evolving methodology regarding which striking anomalies merit individual variety designations versus being classified as generic striking errors. The DPIS notation confirms that in 1921, dates were part of the master die, so there is no variation in date position across 1921-D Morgan Dollar dies. The Morgan Dollar was struck at the Denver Mint in 1921, the final year of Morgan Dollar production before the Peace Dollar replaced it later that year, composed of 90% silver at 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. George T. Morgan designed both the Liberty head obverse and the heraldic eagle reverse. The 1921-D was produced in substantial quantities under the Pittman Act recoinage program, and the strike-through mechanism documented here — foreign material preventing complete die impression transfer — is distinct from the die manufacturing errors that constitute the majority of VAM varieties.

External References