1884-P VAM-9.2

Description

Second sub-variety under the 1884-P VAM-9 umbrella, this VAM-9.2 shares the defining obverse characteristic of its sibling VAM-9.1: a date positioned very far to the right of the normal placement, classified as III2 9 - C3a (Very Far Date). Leroy Van Allen attributed no fewer than two die pairs with this distinctive far-right date positioning, necessitating the sub-numbering system to distinguish each unique die pairing. While both VAM-9.1 and VAM-9.2 exhibit the same far date diagnostic, they were produced by different obverse-reverse die combinations, meaning the specific die scratch patterns, flow lines, and secondary markers will differ between the two. In the hand-punch era of Morgan Dollar die preparation, date placement was determined by the die sinker who manually punched each digit into the working die — a process inherently subject to positional variation. The 1884-P Morgan Dollar had a substantial Philadelphia Mint production of 14,070,875 pieces, and many went directly into Treasury storage where they remained for decades, meaning high-grade examples of both VAM-9.1 and VAM-9.2 may exist in original bag condition. The sub-variant numbering convention (VAM-9, 9.1, 9.2) is Van Allen and Mallis's solution for cataloging multiple die pairs that share a primary diagnostic marker while maintaining the distinction that each represents a unique die.

External References