1923-P VAM-1AV

Description

Die file lines covering both the obverse and reverse of this 1923 Philadelphia Peace Dollar tell a story of die maintenance: the Mint salvaged a clashed die by filing away ghost impressions left when obverse and reverse dies struck each other without an intervening planchet. Discovered by Bill Van Note in October 2006, VAM-1AV is classified as 1AV II 1 B2a with an interest level of I-2 and a rarity rating of R-5. The sub-variety naming convention — 1AV — indicates an alphabetically sequenced variant within the VAM-1A die-pair family. On the obverse, die file lines appear around WE and TRVST where clash marks were removed. The reverse shows heavy die file lines throughout the fields surrounding the eagle, documenting a more extensive filing effort. These file lines are the physical traces of a Mint worker drawing a file across the die face — grooves cut into hardened steel that transferred as raised lines on every coin subsequently struck. Van Note, a recognized Peace Dollar researcher, identified this variety through the distinctive filing patterns that distinguish it from other die-maintenance varieties in the 1923 catalog. 1AV II 1 · B2a (Die File Lines Obverse & Reverse) I-2 R-5 Obverse II 1– Die file lines around WE & TRVST to remove die clash marks. Reverse B2a– Heavy die file lines all around eagle in fields to remove die clash marks.

External References