1902-S VAM-3

Description

Discovered by Leroy Van Allen in June 1966, this San Francisco Mint Morgan Dollar carries the VAM-3 designation for its distinctive doubled 02 on the obverse and an extra olive on the reverse. Classified as III2 3 - C4/C3a (Doubled 02, 2 Olive Reverse) under catalog number 189, the obverse die shows the 0 doubled at the top right and the 2 tripled at the top, while the reverse exhibits an extra olive to the right of the olive on the branch — a die-pairing anomaly that makes this variety identifiable at moderate magnification. The date is set noticeably low compared to the normal position. The 1902-S had a mintage of 1,530,000 pieces at the San Francisco Mint, making it a scarcer date in the Morgan series produced during the Gilded Age when silver dollar production was driven by the Bland-Allison Act and its successors. VAM varieties on Morgan Dollars are cataloged through the Van Allen-Mallis system, the most comprehensive die variety reference for the series, and the VAM-3 for 1902-S remains a sought-after variety among specialists who track die doublings and reverse anomalies across the Morgan Dollar run from 1878 through 1921.

External References