1880-O VAM-20

Description

Discovered by Francis Davis in April 1977, VAM-20 on the 1880 New Orleans Mint Morgan Dollar is classified as 20 III2 1 C3e with the primary diagnostic being an O/O Right repunched mintmark. The reverse (C3e) shows the mintmark repunched with the original position appearing as a bar in the middle and top right of the opening, ending in a thin line curving to the left at the bottom of the loop opening — a detailed description that provides precise attribution guidance for examining specimens under magnification. Before 1990, each branch mint working die received its mintmark through a separate hand-punching operation, and the 1880-O date shows numerous repunched mintmark varieties as Mint workers corrected initial placements that were off-position. The 1880-O Morgan Dollar was struck at the New Orleans Mint with a total mintage of approximately 5.3 million pieces across all die pairings. The obverse die (III2 1) is classified as a normal die without significant variety features. George T. Morgan's silver dollar design, introduced in 1878, had been in production for only two years when this die was prepared, and the early New Orleans production years of the series are fertile ground for repunched mintmark discoveries. The VAM system's classification code 176 appears in the catalog entry, linking this variety to the broader die study documentation maintained by the VAM research community.

External References