1896-O VAM-8

Description

Originally discovered by Alfred Bonard in October 1974, this 1896-O Morgan Dollar was cataloged as VAM-8 for its apparently oval-shaped O mint mark. Classified as III2 1- under the C3e reverse pairing (die marriage 181), the reverse was described as carrying an Oval II O mint mark — an elongated version of the standard round New Orleans mint mark. However, this variety was eliminated from the active VAM catalog in July 2024 after examination determined that the oval appearance resulted from post-strike damage to the coin rather than a genuine die variety. The VAM book's original illustration shows a normal, round O mint mark, and the irregularity that led to the Oval O classification was attributed to damage sustained by the individual coin that altered the mint mark's shape. The elimination of VAM-8 illustrates an important principle in die variety research: not every anomaly on a coin originates from the die, and careful attribution must distinguish between die-made features (present on all coins from that die) and post-strike alterations (unique to one specimen). The 1896-O Morgan Dollar had a mintage of approximately 4.9 million, making it a moderately scarce New Orleans issue in the Gilded Age Morgan Dollar series.

External References