1882-O VAM-3A

Description

Recognized as a Top 100 Morgan VAM — a designation reserved for the most significant and sought-after varieties in the entire Morgan Dollar series — the 1882-O VAM-3A was discovered by John Roberts in October 2007 on a specimen from C. Logan McKechnie's holdings. Classified as III2 3 - C3b with die pairing number 181, this variety carries the full designation "Doubled 82, Open 2, O/S Flush, Clashed Obverse us." The obverse (II2 3) is a clashed die showing partial incuse impressions of "us" from the word "Trust" on the reverse design — these ghost letters appear transferred into the right hair vee at the lower edge of Liberty's hair, pressed into the obverse die when the hammer and anvil dies struck each other without a planchet between them. The "O/S Flush" component identifies the mintmark as an O punched over an S, where the original San Francisco mintmark was replaced with the New Orleans O in a nearly flush alignment — a die preparation practice where mintmarks were changed when dies were reassigned between facilities. The "Doubled 82, Open 2" portion describes doubling on the 8 and 2 digits along with a distinctive open-loop form on the 2. The Top 100 designation, curated from the thousands of documented Morgan VAMs, confirms this variety's exceptional collector demand. The Morgan Dollar was designed by George T. Morgan and struck at the New Orleans Mint in 1882 from 90% silver at 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. VAMWorld cataloged by John Roberts provides the primary reference, documenting the die state progression and emission sequence. The intersection of an over-mintmark, clashed die impressions, and doubled date elements on a single coin creates a variety with extraordinary diagnostic richness — multiple independent features that each tell a different story about this die pair's production history.

External References