1886-O VAM-4

Description

Discovered by George Mallis in July 1964, the 1886-O VAM-4 Morgan Dollar is designated "O Tilted Left" and classified as III2 1 - C3b with a rarity rating of 181. The defining characteristic of this variety resides entirely on the reverse: the III O mintmark from the New Orleans Mint is tilted to the left of its intended vertical orientation, a positioning anomaly that resulted from the hand-punching process used to apply mintmarks to working dies. The reverse die marker consists of lines in the wreath bow, providing an additional attribution checkpoint. Cataloged by VAMWorld, this variety comes with a particularly interesting production note: it occurs with (and without) rotated dies of 15 to 48 degrees clockwise — meaning specimens exist where the obverse and reverse designs are misaligned relative to each other by varying degrees of rotation, a striking error that is independent of the VAM-4 die variety classification and compounds the collectibility of affected specimens. Die rotation of 15 to 48 degrees is substantial and visually obvious without magnification, as the standard coin alignment places the reverse 180 degrees from the obverse. The 1886-O Morgan Dollar was struck at the New Orleans Mint with a mintage of 10,710,000 in 90% silver, weighing 26.73 grams at 38.1 mm diameter. George Mallis's 1964 discovery of this variety predates the formal publication of the VAM classification system, placing it among the foundational varieties that helped build the comprehensive Morgan Dollar die catalog. The combination of a tilted mintmark variety with potential rotated die errors makes VAM-4 a multi-faceted collectible within the 1886-O Morgan Dollar die marriage population.

External References