1922-D VAM-1U2

Description

The 1922-D VAM-1U2 is classified in the Van Allen-Mallis system as die pair II1 / B2a with the descriptive title "Rim Cud at Y." The defining obverse feature is a large rim cud die break at the Y of LIBERTY — a dramatic failure where a segment of the die physically broke away at the rim, producing a raised, featureless mass of metal that extends into the Y letterform and rises higher than the Y itself, with the cud returning to the rim at both sides of the letter. This variety carries a notable cataloging history: a May 2016 annotation indicates that the 1922-D VAM-1U2 appears to describe the same die as VAM-2U, and that the description published in the 2015 supplement seems to match VAM-2U2 rather than anything on VAM-1U, suggesting a possible typographical error in the reference literature. The Peace dollar was designed by Anthony de Francisci, featuring a radiant Liberty head on the obverse and a perched eagle with olive branch on the reverse, struck in 90% silver and 10% copper at 26.73 grams with a 38.1 mm diameter. The 1922-D issue was produced at the Denver Mint with a substantial mintage of approximately 15.1 million pieces, the highest mintage of any Peace dollar from Denver. Rim cuds of this magnitude — engulfing an entire letter of LIBERTY — represent advanced die failure and typically appear on coins struck in the final production runs before the damaged die was removed from service, making well-struck examples with full cud detail desirable to die-break specialists and VAM collectors alike.

External References