1922-P VAM-1AK

Description

Jody Faust discovered this Philadelphia Mint Peace Dollar variety in July 2025, making it one of the most recently cataloged VAM entries in the entire Peace Dollar series — over a century after the coins were struck. Designated VAM-1AK II 1 - B1a (Scratch Through M), the reverse features a heavily polished die with a strong scratch running through the bottom half of the M in UNUM, a defect likely introduced during aggressive die polishing intended to extend the die's service life. The reverse die marker is a die scratch near the N of ONE, while the obverse carries a die chip or dot in the hair near the hair bun as its diagnostic marker. The heavy polishing visible on the reverse suggests the die had been reworked significantly, with the polishing removing surface material and the scratch through the M being either an accidental byproduct of the polishing process or a pre-existing defect that the polishing failed to remove. The 1922-P Peace Dollar's mintage of 51,737,000 — the largest in the entire series — continues to yield new die varieties more than a hundred years after production, a testament to both the massive number of die pairs used and the dedication of modern researchers who systematically examine coins long after the initial collecting community has moved on. The VAM-1AK designation, extending the alphabetic progression well past the two-letter suffix range, documents the remarkable depth of die state documentation for the 1922-P date.

External References