1894-O VAM-8

Description

Discovered by Leroy Van Allen in January 1980, VAM-8 identifies a far date with O tilted right on the 1894 New Orleans Morgan Dollar — classified as III2 5 with the C3b reverse and numerical position (181). The obverse shows the date set further right than the standard position, a placement variation resulting from the date punch being applied at a lateral offset during die preparation. The reverse carries a tilted mintmark, with the O leaning to the right of its normal upright orientation — another product of the manual mintmark application process where angle control depended entirely on the die sinker's hand. New Orleans struck approximately 1.72 million Morgan Dollars in 1894, one of the lower mintage figures for the series at this facility and a number that makes 1894-O examples genuinely scarce in higher grades. A catalog note indicates this reverse die was shared with both 1894-O VAM-7 and VAM-8, demonstrating the Mint's practice of pairing a single reverse die with multiple obverse dies to maximize die utilization. The far date placement combined with the tilted O mintmark creates two independent attribution points on opposite sides of the coin, making VAM-8 relatively straightforward to authenticate for collectors building comprehensive 1894-O die marriage sets.

External References