1897-S VAM-10

Description

Discovered by Martin Field in July 1982, VAM-10 for the 1897-S Morgan Dollar is classified as III2 6 - C3b (Near Date, S Tilted Right) and documents a die pair where the obverse date sits further left than normal and the reverse S mint mark is centered but tilted slightly to the right. The combination of near date positioning and tilted mint mark provides two independent attribution points for variety collectors. Martin Field was a prolific early VAM researcher whose discoveries spanning the late 1970s and 1980s helped build the foundation of Morgan Dollar die pair documentation. The 1897-S Morgan Dollar was struck at the San Francisco Mint with a mintage of approximately 5.8 million pieces — a moderate production level that placed it in the middle range of Morgan Dollar availability. San Francisco was one of three active mints producing Morgan Dollars in 1897, during the Gilded Age when the great silver debates shaped monetary policy and elections. The hand-punched S mint mark on San Francisco issues routinely shows positional variation because each working die received its mint mark individually at the Philadelphia Mint before shipment west, and the slight rightward tilt on VAM-10's mint mark documents one such variation. The near date placement, where digits sit closer to the rim than standard, resulted from the date logotype being positioned differently during die preparation.

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