1887-S VAM-22

Description

Discovered in December 2023 by Brent Fogelberg, VAM-22 for the 1887-S Morgan Dollar carries classification III2 2 with reverse C3i, described as "Slanted Date, Doubled 7, S Slightly Right." The reverse shows the S mintmark positioned upright and set slightly to the right — though not as far right as VAM-21, a comparative note that helps differentiate the two varieties. Lower edges of the arrowheads display slight doubling, and a die marker consisting of lines in the wing-neck gap further confirms the attribution. The slanted date and doubled final digit in 1887 suggest the date punch was applied with slight rotational misalignment, affecting the 7 more than the preceding digits. San Francisco struck 1.77 million Morgan Dollars in 1887, a low mintage that makes any variety from this date-mint combination inherently scarce. The DPIS field remains unrecorded. Fogelberg's December 2023 discovery adds to a growing body of recently identified 1887-S varieties, demonstrating that even well-studied dates in the Morgan series continue to yield new attributions under systematic photographic examination.

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