1878-P VAM-14.2A

Description

Discovered in 2019 by the collector known as "twohawks," the 1878-P VAM-14.2A Morgan Dollar is classified as I1 4 - A1I under the full designation "Polished Ear, Doubled Date, Tripled Left Stars, Feed Finger Gouges OF." This variety presents a remarkable combination of hubbing anomalies and production-related die damage on a single die pair. The obverse (I1 4) exhibits a polished ear where die maintenance removed surface detail from Liberty's ear area, along with doubling visible on the date digits and tripling on the left-side stars — features that originated during the hub-to-die transfer process. Since 1878 dates were part of the master die, the doubled date on this variety reflects a master-die-level anomaly rather than individual date punch misplacement, meaning every working die produced from this master hub would potentially carry some degree of this doubling. The reverse (A1I) displays vertical die gouges at the OF inscription caused by feed finger contact — the mechanical fingers that advance planchets into the striking chamber occasionally contacted the die face between strikes, leaving distinctive linear gouges. This feed finger damage occurs on early die state specimens, suggesting the gouges were present from the beginning of this die's production run. The 1878-P Morgan Dollar was the inaugural issue of George T. Morgan's iconic silver dollar design, authorized by the Bland-Allison Act and struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 90% silver at 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. The 1878 Philadelphia issue is among the most complex dates in the entire Morgan series for variety collectors, with multiple reverse hub types including the famous 7 and 8 tail feather configurations, and the extensive VAM population for this date reflects both the large mintage and the die production challenges inherent in launching a new coin design.

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