1879-O VAM-6

Description

Discovered by Leroy Van Allen in May 1967, the 1879-O VAM-6 is classified as III2 5 - C3d and designated "O Tilted Right" — one of the earliest documented VAM varieties, reflecting Van Allen's pioneering work in establishing the Morgan Dollar die variety classification system. The obverse (III2 5) shows the 9 in the date doubled at the bottom lower left, with the open 9 variety — meaning the 9's loop does not fully close, a master die characteristic. The reverse (C3d) features a centered Type II O oval medium mint mark tilted to the right. Commentary notes this variety may be a duplicate of 1879-O VAM-42, as VAM-6 specifies doubling only on the lower left of the 9, and it is flagged as a hypergeneric listing — a term indicating the variety description may be too broadly defined to reliably distinguish it from similar die pairs. The Morgan Dollar was designed by George T. Morgan, struck at the New Orleans Mint in 90% silver at 26.73 grams and 38.1 mm diameter. The 1879-O had a mintage of approximately 2.89 million coins, placing it among the lower-mintage dates in the Morgan Dollar series. The open 9 characteristic is a master die feature visible across multiple 1879 die pairs, while the right-tilted O mintmark is specific to this reverse die. New Orleans mintmark positioning varieties are particularly studied within the VAM community because the facility's mintmark punching practices produced notable variation in placement, tilt, and size across different working dies. The historical significance of this early Van Allen discovery adds provenance interest to the attribution.

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