1900-O VAM-23A

Description

Discovered by Herb Zepke in September 2000, the 1900-O VAM-23A is a Morgan dollar variety struck at the New Orleans Mint, classified as 23A III2 15 - C3l and designated Near Slanted Date, High O, Polishing Lines in Wing. The Morgan dollar was composed of 90% silver and 10% copper, weighing 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter and a reeded edge. The New Orleans Mint, which operated from 1838 to 1909 and produced coins prized for their historical Southern provenance, struck 12,590,000 Morgan dollars in 1900, a substantial production figure for this facility in its final decade of operation. The obverse classification III2 15 describes a date set further left than normal and slanted, with the digit 1 positioned very close to the rim. This near-rim placement of the 1 is a prominent first-screening diagnostic, as it is visible without magnification and immediately narrows the range of possible VAM attributions. The reverse, classified as C3l, carries a few heavy vertical polishing lines through the middle of the eagle's left wing. These polishing lines are evidence of die maintenance where Mint personnel used abrasive tools to clean or smooth the die surface, and the heavy nature of these particular lines suggests an aggressive polishing session that left permanent marks transferred to every subsequent coin struck. The high O mintmark position indicates the New Orleans engraver placed the mintmark punch higher than the standard position, a die-specific characteristic that helps confirm the reverse die attribution. The DPIS code 181 locates this variety within the date position indexing framework. Herb Zepke's discovery in 2000 added another documented die marriage to the extensive 1900-O Morgan dollar census, and the combination of date position, mintmark placement, and wing polishing lines provides multiple diagnostic entry points for confident attribution.

External References