1891-S VAM-23

Description

Discovered in November 2024 by Brent Fogelberg, VAM-23 for the 1891-S Morgan Dollar represents one of the most recently identified varieties in the San Francisco Morgan Dollar catalog. Classified as 23 III2 14 - C3k with the descriptive designation "S Slightly High," this variety is defined by its mintmark position: the S mint mark sits slightly higher than the standard placement on the reverse. The reverse die C3k carries distinctive die markers including two strong, parallel, horizontal lines in the wreath bow and a die chip inside the G of GOD visible on some specimens — progressive die deterioration features that help confirm attribution. The obverse utilizes die III2 14, paired in a specific die marriage with the high-S reverse. The 1891-S was the final San Francisco Mint Morgan Dollar before the series entered a brief hiatus in 1893 and then experienced sporadic production through its 1904 suspension and 1921 revival. San Francisco struck approximately 5.3 million Morgan Dollars in 1891, a moderate mintage from a mint that had been producing silver dollars since the series' 1878 launch. George T. Morgan's design was in its fourteenth year of production, and the die preparation process — including manual mintmark application — was thoroughly established. The slightly high S position represents the type of mintmark placement variation that VAM researchers specifically catalog, as these positional differences definitively identify individual working dies within the production run. The November 2024 discovery date demonstrates that new Morgan Dollar varieties continue to emerge nearly 150 years after the coins were struck, as advancing digital photography and growing online research communities enable identification of previously overlooked die characteristics.

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