1878-P Morgan Dollar VAM-2 "Lines In Liberty": How to Identify It

The 1878-P VAM-2 is an early Morgan dollar die variety recognized by NGC. Leroy Van Allen discovered it in December 1965, and it remains an approachable pickup for collectors who want a real die variety from the first year of the series.

What makes it different

VAM-2 is described as a common to scarce variety. The name comes from the polishing lines found in Liberty's cap and in the letters LIB of LIBERTY. The coin is an 8 Tail Feather strike, and it shows several doubling features on both sides.

How to identify it

• Obverse: the bottoms of E PLURIBUS and both sides of the U in UNUM look doubled. The left side of all left stars is slightly doubled. The 7 in the date is doubled on the left side and tripled on the right side of the vertical shaft.

• Reverse: doubling is most visible in the lower left of the wreaths and in the lettering of UNITED, AMERICA and ONE DOLLAR. Three small feathers are added on the eagle's right and two on the left, between the leg and the bottom of the wing. This reverse is unique to VAM-2.

• Die marks: polishing lines in the eagle's left wing, two parallel polishing lines in the recessed area of Liberty's cap, and, in later die states, a die crack from the first left star to the neck.

VAM-2 and VAM-2A are the same die pair. VAM-2 is unclashed and VAM-2A is clashed. The same obverse appears later as VAM-14.4.

What buyers and collectors should know

Buyers should check the doubled 7 and the extra feathers under magnification before paying a variety premium. Collectors will value that the coin documents a specific die pair that can be traced through more than one die state.

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