1881-O VAM-22

Description

Documented by H.L. Thamm in June 1981 and classified as III2 13 C3d (176), this 1881 New Orleans Mint Morgan Dollar features doubled date digits and a tilted O mintmark. The first 1 shows doubling at the top right of the shaft as a notch, while the second 1 is doubled at the top of the upper crossbar and lower left side of the shaft — each digit exhibiting doubling in a slightly different pattern indicating the nature of the hub shift. The O mintmark is centered but tilted to the left, a characteristic resulting from the angle at which the punch was applied to the working die. Tilted mintmarks on New Orleans Morgans are common enough to serve as a classification criterion within the VAM system, as hand-punching left considerable room for angular variation. Thamm's 1981 documentation placed this variety among the earlier wave of VAM discoveries that established the foundational catalog. The 1881-O was struck in substantial numbers, and the combination of date doubling with a tilted mintmark provides two distinct attribution points on a single coin. =1881-O VAM-22 Doubled 1-1, O Tilted Left= Discovered by H.L.

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