1897-S VAM-14

Description

Discovered by Brent Fogelberg, the 1897-S VAM-14 "Doubled 1--7, S Tilted Right" Morgan dollar documents two distinct diagnostics: doubled digits in the date (specifically the 1 and 7 of 1897) and an S mintmark tilted to the right on the reverse beneath the eagle's tail feathers. Cataloged as 14 III2 3 · C3b (Doubled 1--7, S Tilted Right) with the single question mark suggesting a provisional classification, this variety pairs Obverse III2 3 with Reverse C3b. George T. Morgan's silver dollar was struck at the San Francisco Mint with an approximate mintage of 5.83 million coins in 1897, a moderate production total that generated enough die pairs to support meaningful variety documentation. The doubled date diagnostic — where the 1 and 7 show evidence of repunching or hub doubling — may indicate the date digits received a secondary impression displaced from the primary, creating doubled contours visible under magnification. The tilted S mintmark on the reverse reflects the hand-punching process: each working die received its mintmark individually when an engraver positioned a letter punch against the die surface and struck it, and slight rotational misalignment of the punch produced the tilted orientation documented here. The emission sequence data notes that this die shares the same obverse as VAM-4, with the additional instruction to compare the wreath bow detail between VAM-4 and VAM-14 — suggesting the two VAMs share an obverse die paired with different reverse dies, and the wreath bow area provides a visual checkpoint for distinguishing the reverse. Brent Fogelberg's contributions to the Morgan dollar VAM catalog include numerous discoveries across multiple dates and mints.

External References