1922-P VAM-1AI

Description

Discovered by Jody Faust in October 2017, VAM-1AI documents an unusual collar clash on the 1922 Philadelphia Mint Peace Dollar — a die variety with rarity rated I-2 for interest and R-5 for scarcity. The obverse carries the standard II1 die with a notable die marker: polishing lines visible inside the B loops of PLURIBUS, evidence of Mint personnel attempting to dress the die surface during its working life. The reverse, designated B1a, shows the collar clash phenomenon where faint reeding indentations appear at the rim below CE of PEACE and extending past the left mountain in Anthony de Francisci's high-relief landscape design. Collar clashes occur when the retaining collar — the ring that forms the coin's edge reeding — impacts the die face during a malfunction, transferring its pattern onto the die and subsequently onto struck coins. The 1922 Philadelphia issue is the most common date in the Peace Dollar series, with over 51 million struck, yet collar clash varieties remain genuinely scarce at R-5 rarity. The VAM-1AI designation places this within the extensive sub-variety system where letter suffixes indicate die states or minor variations branching from a primary die marriage number.

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