1922-D VAM-1C

Description

Discovered by Eric Justice in May 2001, the 1922-D VAM-1C "Die Break Y" Peace dollar documents a die break extending from the rim at the left side of the letter Y in LIBERTY, running through the top of Y and extending to the right into the adjacent field on Anthony de Francisci's obverse design. Cataloged as 1C II 1 - B1a (Die Break Y), this variety captures a specific stage of die deterioration where the working die steel fractured at the rim-to-design boundary near the last letter of LIBERTY and the crack propagated both through the letter and into the open field beyond it. Denver struck approximately 15.06 million Peace dollars in 1922, the first year of standard low-relief production that followed the 1921 high-relief debut. Die breaks at the rim represent common failure modes for working dies, as the rim area experiences concentrated stress during striking — the metal flow required to form the rim and adjacent design elements creates tension that eventually exceeds the die steel's structural capacity. The path of this break — entering from the left rim, traversing the top of Y, and continuing rightward into the field — describes a crack that originated at the periphery and propagated inward along a path through the design element. On struck coins, this manifests as a raised irregular line tracing the fracture, potentially with slight displacement of the metal on either side of the crack. Eric Justice's May 2001 discovery added to the growing body of Peace dollar VAM research that was expanding rapidly during the early 2000s through online collaboration. The Reverse B1a classification indicates a standard B1-type reverse pairing, meaning the diagnostic interest lies entirely on the obverse die break. Collectors should examine the Y of LIBERTY and the adjacent field area under 10-15x magnification for the raised crack line extending from the rim through the letter.

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