1924-P VAM-1BD

Description

Discovered in June 2011, this Philadelphia Mint Peace Dollar carries the designation VAM-1BD with classification 1BD II1 - B2a (Swirled Lines Eagle's Shoulder) at I-2 and R-5 rarity. Both the obverse and reverse dies display evidence of die maintenance polishing: the obverse II1 die shows die file lines on Liberty's forehead and in the field at the jaw-neck junction, while the reverse B2a die features swirled die file lines above the eagle's right shoulder, applied to erase a die clash mark where Liberty's obverse portrait had been incuse-impressed into the reverse die during a clashing event. The swirled pattern of the file lines is distinctive because it differs from the straight parallel lines more commonly seen in die polishing — the circular or swirling motion indicates the tool was rotated during use rather than drawn in a single direction. Die clashing occurs when the obverse and reverse dies strike each other without a planchet between them, and the resulting incuse impressions must be removed before the die can return to service, or else those ghost images would appear on every subsequent coin. The 1924-P Peace Dollar had a mintage of approximately 11.81 million coins, and the maintenance artifacts documented on VAM-1BD tell the story of a die pair that experienced a clash, was refinished by workers using swirling polishing techniques, and then returned to production with the telltale file marks serving as a permanent record of the intervention. The forehead file lines on the obverse suggest both dies may have been refinished simultaneously.

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