1882-P VAM-1D1

Description

Discovered by Leroy Van Allen himself in June 2005, the 1882-P VAM-1D1 Morgan Dollar is classified as 1D1 III2 1 · C3a (Metal in 82) with die pairing number 180. The obverse (III2 1) exhibits a distinctive condition: the second 8 has die chips in the bottom right inside of the lower loop, while both loops of the 2 are filled with shallow raised metal from die chips and flakes with polishing lines — creating a visually unusual appearance where the digit 2 appears partially filled rather than cleanly struck. The raised metal within the 2's loops originated from progressive die surface fragmentation where small pieces of die steel chipped and flaked from the recessed areas of the die that form the interior spaces of the numeral 2, and subsequent polishing compressed but did not fully remove these fragments, leaving them as shallow raised deposits. The reverse (C3a) is a normal die. An important catalog note emphasizes that 1882-P VAM-1D1 is NOT the same die pair as 1882-P VAM-1D2 — a clarification apparently needed because the similar nomenclature and related metal-in-date diagnostics could lead to confusion between the two varieties, which use different obverse dies despite sharing the "Metal in" descriptor category. The Morgan Dollar was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1882 in 90% silver at 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. George T. Morgan designed both the Liberty head obverse and heraldic eagle reverse. The 1882-P had a mintage of approximately 11.1 million pieces. Van Allen's own discovery of this variety in 2005 — decades after co-creating the VAM classification system — demonstrates that new varieties continued to be identified even within well-studied date-mint combinations, and the die chip and flake mechanism producing the "Metal in 82" effect provides insight into the progressive deterioration of die surfaces during sustained production runs.

External References