I bought this Morgan yesterday,I think the S mintmark is moved,do you think is a mintmark die error? Is it a medium S or Large S vam? I bought this one,after looking for Morgan dollars over 40 pcs at the dealer,I chose this one because I was thinking it was a VAM,I was there to buy any morgan. This is my 2nd 1880-S Morgan.
Pics of both the obv and rev would help. VAM 8 is a medium S and has doubling in the 1 8 0 of the date and its a 79/80. VAM 9 is a 79/80 with the large S. IMO it looks like the large S but thats all I can say from the pics. VAMworld » 1880-S VAMs Here are the VAMs for the 1880 S
Looking at that mint mark, my first guess would be VAM 35. Unfortunately I don't see any images to compare online. There's an image in the VAM Book (4th edition page 214). This is only my guess.
Yes, large S tilted very far to left. You can get the full description here. It shares the same reverse as VAMs 57 and 66, so those are possibilities too. Plus, I may be wrong on the reverse die, so it could be something else. All Morgans are VAMs. Just need to find the right match. EDITED: Woops. My mistake. VAM 35 shares the same obverse as VAMs 57 and 66. I'm still thinking it's a VAM 35.
IMO I cant see any doubling in the date, So I would say it's the VAM C3c - which describes your coin perfectly. Heres the link from VAMworld VAMworld » 1880-S VAM-3
I can't see date doubling in the image either. It's very slight on VAM 35. I'm not convinced on VAM 35. Just a guess. The reverse does seem to match the VAM book image. VAM 3 has a tilted left mint mark, but it's centered. This coin looks slightly left and also tilted. VAM 3 has a larger space from the top left of the mint mark to the wreath. Top right to the mint mark is a smaller space. This coin looks the opposite... larger space between top right of mint mark to wreath.
You may be right, I dont have the VAM book, Im only going by VAMworld but doesn't the 35 have doubling in the whole date? Some of these VAMs are very tricky, and frustrating LOL.
The site describes it as a very large S, and the S on your coin is HUGE LOL . I'm not even close to 100 percent sure though sorry. Nesvt thinks its maybe the 35 which could be right too, and I believe he just cherrypicked a few nice VAMs, so he knows his stuff. Oh and if you think the 80S has alot of VAMs check out the 1878P it's got a few LOL.
I fixed my earlier post. VAM 35 shares the same OBVERSE with those other two VAMs. I think v35 is the only C3n reverse. Leroy Van Allen describes the date doubling as "slightly doubled" and "doubled faintly". I'd need a microscope to see it. I'm trying to get someone to load an image of the 1880-S v35 on the VAMworld site. We'll see. If you can see the plate photo, it might be easier for you to compare with the coin in hand and see if it's similar or not.
