1883-O VAM-20

Description

Discovered by Martin Field in October 1978, the 1883-O VAM-20 is a Morgan dollar variety struck at the New Orleans Mint featuring a Doubled 3 and O Tilted Right. Classified as III2 10 - C3f (Doubled 3, O Tilted Right) (181), this variety combines obverse hub doubling with a distinctive mintmark positioning anomaly on the reverse. The Morgan dollar is composed of 90% silver and 10% copper, weighing 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. The New Orleans Mint produced 8,725,000 Morgan dollars in 1883, a moderate mintage during the early years of mandated silver dollar production under the Bland-Allison Act. The obverse die, classified as III2 10, shows the 3 digit doubled slightly at the bottom left inside of its lower loop. This date numeral doubling results from a secondary hub impression during die preparation where the hub was not perfectly aligned with the initial impression. The reverse die, classified as C3f, features a Type II O mintmark tilted far to the right, described as one of the farthest right tilts of any Type II O mintmark in the 1883-O Morgan dollar series. Mintmark tilting at the New Orleans Mint was a natural consequence of hand-punching each mintmark into individual working dies, where the angle of the punch relative to the die surface could vary from die to die. VAMWorld records note that this reverse die is shared with 1883-O VAM-8 and 1883-O VAM-8A, documenting the Mint's practice of pairing the same reverse die with different obverse dies as production continued. Martin Field's 1978 discovery places this among the earlier documented varieties in the 1883-O Morgan dollar series, predating many of the discoveries made possible by modern magnification equipment and online variety communities.

External References