1921-S VAM-1B
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Description
1921-S VAM-1B Thorn Head Series of VAMs VAM-1B1 through VAM-1B7 Discovered by Martin Field, October 1978. (PCGS MS # 134060 -- specific ones for each variety too) These coins are Hit List 40 and a WOW! Morgan VAM. '''DPIS – In 1921 dates were part of the master die so there is no variation in position. ;Emission Sequence :Obverse: :Reverse: '''Comments: # Leroy Van Allen wrote an excellent article entitled "An Amazing Dollar Die" telling the story about the 1921-S VAM-1B dollar that has 5 distinct die states known as gouges appear and are polished off in multiple places! This story of these dies was unusual enough to warrant publication in the June 2003 edition of the ANA Numismatist Magazine (page 43). Since that article appeared, FIVE more die states have been found for a total of TEN unique states for this one die pair, with the most recent discovery being made in March 2011! # The obverse die of the 1921 S Morgan silver dollar variety VAM 1B, Thorn Head series underwent an amazing number of changes... At some point during this obverse die lifetime, it received two large die gouges at the top and back of the Phrygian cap plus two small die gouges. But that was just the beginning of a series of damages on this obverse die at the San Francisco Mint. Subsequent damage of the die added six more deep and large die gouges in the fields plus two more in the denticles. There are now nine known distinct die gouge states of this obverse die with various number and strengths of the twelve die gouges. And to cap it off, the reverse die also shows two significant die gouges with the last three obverse die gouge states! # All the VAM-1B coins share the same characteristic die gouge between the leaf and the cap. It is visible with the naked eye and is useful when checking a lot of coins while cherry-picking.