1879-O VAM-1

Description

Discovered by Howard Newcomb in February 1913, VAM-1 stands among the earliest attributed Morgan Dollar die varieties — predating the Van Allen-Mallis classification system by more than six decades. The defining obverse feature is a closed 9 in the date, where the loop of the numeral is fully enclosed rather than open, accompanied by die chips between the loops of the 8 that add secondary texture to the date area. On the reverse, an oval medium mint mark is centered and upright — the standard New Orleans O positioning that serves as the baseline against which tilted or shifted mint mark varieties are measured. Classified as Obverse III2, this die pair represents the normal die configuration for the 1879-O Morgan Dollar, and VAM-1 designations across the series typically denote the primary or most common die marriage for a given date and mint combination. Newcomb's 1913 discovery predates modern numismatic attribution methods, and his identification of the closed 9 as a distinguishing characteristic demonstrates that sharp-eyed collectors were systematically cataloging die differences well before the formal VAM system codified the practice in the 1970s.

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