1885-CC VAM-2

Description

George Mallis's June 1965 discovery, VAM-2 identifies a Dash Under 8 on the 1885 Carson City Morgan Dollar — one of the earliest VAM attributions ever published, predating the formal Van Allen-Mallis catalog that would systematize Morgan Dollar variety documentation. Classified III2 2 - C3a, the obverse shows a dash under the second 8 and slight doubling at the bottom of the 5 for about half the curve, adding a secondary diagnostic to the primary dash feature. The reverse C3a designation indicates a normal die with a large V-shaped CC mintmark. Carson City struck only 228,000 Morgan Dollars in 1885, the lowest CC-mint Morgan output for any year in the series and one of the key dates that drives intense collector demand for all 1885-CC varieties. A persistent die marker noted in the comments — a long harpoon-shaped die scratch along the front edge of Liberty's neck — appears on all stages of this die, providing a reliable identification feature that survives die wear from early through late states. The "harpoon-shaped" descriptor is unusually vivid for die variety documentation and suggests a distinctive elongated scratch with a pointed terminus that resembles the weapon's profile. VAM-2's 1965 discovery date places it among the foundational attributions that predated the 1971 publication of the Van Allen-Mallis reference work, establishing the dash under 8 as a recognized variety more than half a century ago.

External References