1883-P VAM-3

Description

Discovered by Leroy Van Allen in April 1966 — making it one of the earliest documented VAM varieties by the system's co-creator — the 1883-P VAM-3 is cataloged as die pair III2 3 / C3a with the descriptive title "High Dash Under 8, Doubled 8-3 & Ear." The obverse exhibits three distinct diagnostic features: a thin dash positioned just below the second 8, the first 8 doubled at the bottom outside of the lower loop, and the 3 doubled at the bottom inside of the lower loop, along with strong doubling at the right inside of Liberty's ear. The combination of a die scratch manifesting as a dash below a date digit with doubling on both the date and the ear makes this variety identifiable from multiple diagnostic checkpoints. The reverse is classified as C3a, a normal die. The Morgan dollar was designed by George T. Morgan and struck in 90% silver and 10% copper, weighing 26.73 grams with a diameter of 38.1 mm with 180 reeds on the edge as indicated by the die pair classification. The 1883-P had a business strike mintage of approximately 12.29 million pieces, produced at the Philadelphia Mint during the Bland-Allison Act era. The dash below the second 8 is particularly noteworthy as a die preparation artifact — likely a stray impression from the date punch or a thin die scratch that occurred during the engraving or polishing process — that serves as an immediate visual flag for variety attribution even before examining the more subtle doubling features on the date digits and ear.

External References