1925-P VAM-1L

Description

Discovered by Jim Hart in December 2002, the 1925-P VAM-1L Peace Dollar — formerly listed as VAM-14 before renumbering — carries the classification II 1 B2a and the descriptive title "Shortened Reverse Rays." The rarity ratings of I-2 and R-5 place this variety in the scarce category, with an estimated surviving population of 30 to 75 known examples. The defining characteristic involves the reverse die having been over-polished to remove die clash marks, a maintenance procedure that inadvertently shortened several of the sun rays in Anthony de Francisci's reverse design. Specifically, the top two rays above the eagle's left wing were reduced in length, and the top ray below the eagle's tail feathers was shortened to approximately one-third of its normal length. Additionally, heavy polishing lines are visible in both the right and left fields of the reverse, documenting the aggressive die resurfacing that caused the ray truncation. Die clash removal was a routine maintenance practice at the Mint, where dies that had struck each other without a planchet would receive polishing to eliminate the transferred design impressions — but aggressive polishing could remove not only the clash marks but also fine design detail, as evidenced here by the shortened rays. The 1925-P Peace Dollar was struck at the Philadelphia Mint with a mintage of 10,198,000 pieces in 90% silver, weighing 26.73 grams at 38.1 mm diameter. The reverse design, featuring a perched eagle with radiating sun rays above, makes ray length a particularly sensitive indicator of die maintenance, as the thin, tapered rays are the first design elements to disappear under polishing.

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