1926-S VAM-1F

Description

Heavy die file lines covering the entire reverse surface tell the story of a Mint attempt to salvage a clashed die — when the obverse and reverse dies strike each other without a planchet, they leave unwanted design transfers that must be removed. The solution was filing the reverse die, leaving parallel scratch lines across the entire field. Discovered in June 2005 by Laurence Galbraith, this 1926-S Peace Dollar VAM is specifically noted as a different die than VAM-1D despite similar file-line characteristics, meaning two separate 1926-S reverse dies received filing treatment for clash removal. VAM plate notation 1F II 1 B2a classifies the variety with importance I-2 (moderately important) and rarity R-6 (very scarce). The R-6 rating indicates very few specimens from this die pair have been identified, consistent with die filing typically being performed on dies already in advanced use. San Francisco's 1926-S Peace Dollar production employed multiple die pairs, and the documentation of separate filed dies expands understanding of how the facility managed clashing events during the run. =1926-S VAM-1F Die File Lines on Reverse= Discovered by Laurence Galbraith, June 2005. 1F II 1 B2a (Die File Lines on Reverse) I-2 R-6 Reverse B2a - Heavy die file lines all over reverse to remove die clash marks.

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