1901-O VAM-30A

Description

Lance Newman identified this New Orleans Mint Morgan Dollar variety in 2014 through LVA/OCC attribution channels, cataloging it as VAM-30A under classification III21 - C3d. The variety combines a rightward-shifted O mintmark with collar clash evidence, where reeding indentations from the coin's edge collar were pressed into the die surface during a malfunction. The collar clash reeding marks appear between the nine and ten-thirty o'clock positions, spanning a significant arc that makes the variety identifiable once a collector knows where to look. Collar clashes form when the retractable collar contacts a die face at an improper moment, transferring the reeding pattern that normally shapes only the coin's edge onto the flat die surface. The resulting impressions appear as fine parallel lines following the curvature of the collar, distinctly different from die scratches or polishing lines in their regularity. New Orleans Mint Morgan Dollars from 1901 represent one of the final years of operation for the historic facility, which closed permanently in 1909, making varieties from its twilight years resonant for collectors of Southern branch mint coinage.

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