1927-D VAM-3

Description

Daniel Cooper's March 2006 discovery of VAM-3 identified a significant doubled obverse variety on the 1927-D Peace Dollar, where GOD WE and the designer's initials are doubled towards the date, and LIB and the front rays over to the B of the tiara are doubled on the left side. Classified as 3 II 3 B2a (Doubled Left Obverse) with importance I-3 and rarity R-5, this variety carries a higher importance rating than many Peace Dollar VAMs, reflecting the visual prominence and collector desirability of obverse doubling. The I-3 importance rating signals a variety with significant collecting interest — doubling on major design elements like GOD WE and the designer's initials AF (Anthony de Francisci) creates visually compelling diagnostics that even intermediate collectors can identify. The R-5 rarity of 31 to 75 known specimens places this variety in a scarce but obtainable category. The 1927-D Peace Dollar had a Denver Mint production of approximately 1.27 million coins, a modest mintage that inherently limits the surviving population of any individual die variety. The doubling towards the date on GOD WE and the designer's initials, combined with the left-side doubling on LIB and the tiara rays, suggests a hub doubling event where the obverse hub was shifted in a specific direction between impressions. The B2a reverse die pairing confirms the complete die marriage. Peace Dollar VAM collecting is organized into tiers of desirability, and the I-3 importance rating places VAM-3 in the upper tier of collector interest for the 1927-D date, making it a target variety for specialists building comprehensive date-and-variety sets.

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