1921-S VAM-1AO

Description

Discovered by Michael Ash in December 2006, VAM-1AO on the 1921-S Morgan dollar is cataloged as 1AO IV 1 · D2a (Die File Lines Reverse), die pair 189. The reverse die carries heavy file lines around UNITED and AMERICA — deliberate marks left by a Mint worker filing the die surface in an attempt to remove die cracks that had developed in the legend area. Die filing was standard maintenance practice: rather than retire a cracked die and prepare a replacement (a time-consuming process involving hub impressions and heat treatment), a die worker could file away the raised crack ridges to extend the die's production life. The filed areas produce a distinctive striated texture on struck coins that differs markedly from the smooth fields surrounding unaffected design elements. For the 1921 date specifically, an important technical note applies: dates were incorporated into the master die rather than punched individually into each working die, so there is no variation in date position among 1921 die marriages. This distinguishes 1921 varieties from earlier Morgan dollar dates where date position (near, far, left, right) served as a primary diagnostic. The San Francisco Mint struck approximately 21.6 million Morgan dollars in 1921, the final year of the series, using the Pittman Act silver that had been authorized to replace melted-down dollars.

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