1889-P VAM-13

Description

Discovered by Martin Field in November 1979, the 1889-P VAM-13 Morgan Dollar carries the classification III2 13 · C3a (Very Far Slanted Date) with die pairing number 190. The obverse (III²13) exhibits a strikingly positioned date: slanted with the 1 close to the rim and the 9 far from it, set much further right than normal, and featuring a closed 9 — three positional anomalies that combine to create one of the more dramatically mispositioned dates in the Morgan Dollar series. The "Very Far" qualifier distinguishes this from ordinary "Far Date" varieties, indicating an extreme degree of rightward displacement beyond the range typically seen in date positioning variations. The reverse (C3a) is classified as a normal die. Community commentary reveals attribution complexity: the marriage originally illustrated as VAM-13 has been reclassified as 1889-P VAM-63, raising the question of whether earlier die states of this marriage lack the doubled ear feature associated with VAM-63. A further note records that VAM-63 is now delisted as being the same as VAM-13 — documenting the ongoing catalog refinement process where variety identities are established, challenged, and resolved through collector research. The Morgan Dollar was designed by George T. Morgan and struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1889 in 90% silver at 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. The 1889-P had a mintage of approximately 21.7 million pieces. The closed 9 — where the loop of the numeral fully closes rather than leaving an opening — provides an additional date punch characteristic that supplements the positional diagnostics of the slant and rightward shift.

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