1879-P VAM-101A

Description

Discovered by Mark Witkower in 2018, VAM-101A on the 1879 Philadelphia Mint Morgan Dollar combines two distinct die anomalies: doubled digits on the 1 and 9 of the date, and a clashed obverse bearing a partial incuse letter from the reverse die. The clash transferred a partial "n" from the word IN on the reverse, leaving its impression next to Liberty's neck on the obverse — a diagnostic hallmark of die clash events where obverse and reverse dies strike each other without a planchet between them. Plated as 101A III2 90 - C3a, the designation identifies die pair 90 within Obverse Die Class III2, combined with Reverse C3a. The "A" suffix indicates a die state subsequent to the parent VAM-101. Philadelphia struck 14.807 million Morgan Dollars in 1879, the second year of production for George T. Morgan's silver dollar design that would continue through 1921. The convergence of date doubling and clash evidence on a single die makes VAM-101A a multi-feature variety — the doubled 1 and 9 provide obverse attribution points independent of the clashed "n," giving collectors two distinct diagnostics to confirm the identification under magnification.

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