1903-S VAM-9

Description

Discovered by Martin Field in January 1985, the 1903-S VAM-9 "S Set Right" Morgan dollar documents a reverse die where the S mintmark was positioned slightly to the right of center beneath the eagle's tail feathers and oriented upright. Cataloged as 9 III2 1 · C4d (S Set Right) with a 189-degree die alignment, this variety pairs an Obverse III2 1 with a Reverse C4d — a specific reverse die type characterized by the rightward mintmark placement. San Francisco struck approximately 1.24 million Morgan dollars in 1903, making the 1903-S a scarce date in the Morgan dollar series that commands substantial premiums in all grades. Martin Field's January 1985 discovery places this attribution within the productive research period of the mid-1980s when VAM scholarship was expanding rapidly beyond the original Van Allen and Mallis catalog. The "S Set Right" designation describes the precise lateral position of the mintmark, and the "upright" orientation specifies that the S sits vertically aligned rather than tilted to the left or right — each of these positional characteristics results from the hand-punching process where mint workers used a small letter punch and hammer to add the mintmark to each individual working die. The 189-degree die alignment represents a notable rotation beyond the standard 180-degree opposition between obverse and reverse, adding a measurable die rotation characteristic to the die marriage documentation. The Reverse C4d classification identifies a specific reverse hub type (C4) combined with the rightward mintmark as a distinguishing sub-type (d). George T. Morgan's heraldic eagle reverse provides the framework within which the mintmark position — centered, left, right, high, low — becomes the primary variable differentiating many VAM attributions for S-mint Morgan dollars. Collectors should examine the S mintmark position relative to the eagle's tail feathers under 15-20x magnification, comparing against reference examples to confirm the rightward displacement.

External References