1881-S VAM-36

Description

Uncovered by Martin Field in October 1980, VAM-36 is attributed to the 1881-S Morgan Dollar from the San Francisco Mint. This die pair is classified as 36 III2 1 with a C3k reverse, carrying die pair identification number 184. The defining feature resides on the reverse, where the C3k designation describes a medium-sized S mintmark that is centered but tilted to the right with loops partially filled. The tilted and partially filled mintmark reflects the hand-punching process used to apply mintmarks to individual working dies — the punch could be oriented at varying angles and struck with differing force, and partial fill occurred when the impression did not fully form the letter's interior openings. The obverse die is designated III2 1. San Francisco produced substantial quantities of Morgan Dollars during the early 1880s under the Bland-Allison Act, and the facility's mintmark application practices generated numerous positional and tilt varieties cataloged across the VAM system. Field's identification fourteen years after the system's founding demonstrates the ongoing catalog expansion as researchers documented previously unrecorded die pairs. =1881-S VAM-36 S Tilted Right= Discovered by Martin Field, October 1980.

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