1900-P VAM-29

Description

Discovered by Mark Kimpton in January 2003, the 1900 Philadelphia Mint Morgan Dollar VAM-29 combines a doubled ear with a slanted date — two distinct obverse diagnostics that together make this die marriage relatively easy to identify. The obverse die designated III224 shows the ear slightly doubled at the lower right inside, a hub doubling artifact where the ear's inner contour received a secondary impression during die manufacture. The date is slanted with the 1 positioned closer to the rim than the last 0, while maintaining its normal lateral position — meaning the date tilts without shifting sideways. Cataloged as 29 III224 - C3a with Rarity Scale 190, this variety falls in the mid-range of scarcity among the many documented die marriages for the prolific 1900-P date. Philadelphia struck approximately 8.83 million Morgan Dollars in 1900, the penultimate year before production was suspended under the terms of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act's repeal and the Pittman Act dynamics. The Morgan Dollar series, designed by George T. Morgan in 1878, was approaching the end of its original production run when this die marriage was in service. VAM collecting on 1900-P Morgan Dollars represents a well-explored subfield, with dozens of die marriages documented, and the combination of ear doubling plus slanted date on VAM-29 provides collectors with multiple attribution checkpoints that reduce the chance of misidentification.

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