1925-S VAM-5

Description

Discovered by Herb Zepke in December 1998, the 1925-S VAM-5 Peace Dollar features a doubled leg on the eagle reverse — specifically, the right edge of the eagle's leg is doubled, along with the right side of rays above DO in DOLLAR, and the left and bottom edges of feathers in the middle of the wing, plus the upright top olive leaves on the right side. Classified as II-1 B2e in the Van Allen-Mallis system with an interest level of I-3 and rarity of R-4, this variety is moderately available and of genuine collector interest. The B2e reverse designation indicates a specific type of doubling affecting the eagle's anatomy, and the multiple affected areas — leg, rays, feathers, and olive leaves — suggest a meaningful displacement between hub impressions during die manufacture. The 1925-S Peace Dollar was struck at the San Francisco Mint with a mintage of approximately 1.6 million pieces, making it one of the lower-mintage Peace Dollar dates and adding a scarcity premium to any documented variety. San Francisco's limited output meant fewer die pairs were employed, and each variety documented on this date carries proportionally greater significance. Anthony de Francisci's eagle reverse features detailed anatomical rendering — individual feathers, a textured leg, and carefully sculpted olive leaves — all elements that can reveal hub doubling when the design transfer involved any positional variance. VAM-5 captures these multiple instances of doubling across diverse design elements, offering collectors a richly detailed variety on a key-date Peace Dollar.

External References