1923-D VAM-1AX

Description

Brian Raines discovered VAM-1AX in June 2006, documenting a Peace Dollar die marriage from the 1923 Denver Mint issue that exhibits distinctive breaks below the letters L and Y of LIBERTY. Classified as II 1 with a B2a reverse, this variety carries an I-3 interest rating and a rare R-6 designation — estimated at fewer than 12 known examples, making it one of the scarcer Peace Dollar die marriages. The obverse die shows a die crack running through the L in LIBERTY down to the rim, where it widens slightly into a break, and a second die crack appears at the left middle and right top tip of the Y, extending a short distance to the rim where it also widens into a break. These die cracks indicate significant structural fatigue in the letter area of the obverse die, likely placing this variety late in the die's service life. Denver struck approximately 6.8 million Peace Dollars in 1923, a fraction of Philadelphia's massive 30.8 million output that year. Anthony de Francisci's bold LIBERTY inscription, rendered in large raised letters across the tiara on Liberty's head, creates natural stress concentration points in the die where cracks preferentially develop under repeated striking pressure.

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