The list of Top 100 VAM Morgan Dollars is a list of 100 important, rare, and easily discernible die varieties of Morgan and Peace Dollars.
The Morgan Silver Dollar was issued from the New Orleans, Carson City, Denver, San Francisco, and Philadelphia Mints from 1878 through 1904 and in 1921. The Peace dollar was issued from 1921 through 1928 and from 1934 to 1935.
The Van Allen-Mallis (VAM) system was created by researchers Leroy C. Van Allen and A. George Mallis to describe all the die variations used in the Morgan and Peace Dollar series. In their findings, they noted the differences between dollars from the same year and mint, which helped in identifying die varieties.
How Many VAM Die Varieties are There?
There have been more than 3,300 VAM die varieties of Morgan and Peace Dollars identified, although groups like the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) do not recognize all of these.
How Do I Know Which VAM Variety My Dollar is?
Identifying your Morgan Dollar VAM will require magnification and an eye for minute detail. You will need a 15x loupe to clearly see the details that differentiate one die variety from another.
Paying close attention to the details and lines on the wings and tailfeather of the eagle on the reverse and to the hair, nostril, and eye on the obverse will help shed light on some varieties. Collectors should also be mindful of doubling of the letters on the coins, and on some varieties, the word LIBERTY is doubled entirely.
Some dollars exhibit clashing on the reverse and/or obverse, which happens when die strike each other without a planchet between them. Other varieties feature filled dies, misplaced dates, and combinations of the above.
List of Top 100 VAM Varieties
There are variations to many of these VAM die varieties.
| Year | VAM Number | Description |
| 1878-P | VAM 5 | 8 Tail Feathers DDO |
| 1878-P | VAM 9 | 8 Tail Feathers First Morgan Dollar Comma Feather Reverse |
| 1878-P | VAM 14.11 | 8 Tail Feathers Wild Eye Spikes |
| 1878-P | VAM 15 | 8 Tail Feathers Doubled LIBERTY Concave Reverse |
| 1878-P | VAM 23 | 8 Tail Feathers Doubled Profile – Lips, Nose, & Chin |
| 1878-P | VAM 32 | 7/3 Tail Feathers Variety |
| 1878-P | VAM 41 | 7/7 Tail Feathers |
| 1878-P | VAM 44 | 7/5 Tail Feathers Tripled Obverse Blossoms, Doubled Eagles Legs |
| 1878-P | VAM 45 | 7/0 Tail Feathers Eagles Legs are Doubled to the Left |
| 1878-P | VAM 70 | Doubled RIB in LIBERTY |
| 1878-P | VAM 100 | Incuse M Short Nock |
| 1878-P | VAM 115 | Tripled Cotton Bolls and Leaves |
| 1878-P | VAM 117 | Triple Star, Closed O in GOD |
| 1878-P | VAM 171 | Tripled R |
| 1878-P | VAM 203 | Short Leaf |
| 1878-P | VAM 220 | Tripled R in PLURIBUS |
| 1878-P | VAM 223 | Over-Polished L in LIBERTY |
| 1878-S | VAM 26 | Long Nock, S Tilted to the Left |
| 1878-CC | VAM 6 | Doubled Leaves and Ear. CC Mintmark Almost Touches Wreath |
| 1878-CC | VAM 11 | Lines on Eagle’s Wing |
| 1878-CC | VAM 24/24A | Doubled Leaves No Ear Doubling |
| 1879-S | VAM 4 | Rev of 1878, Die Rust Dots on the Wing Next to the Eagle’s Leg |
| 1879-CC | VAM 3 | Large over Small CC – “Capped CC” |
| 1880-P | VAM 1-A | Die Break, Knobbed 8 |
| 1880-P | VAM 6 | 8/7 Spikes above and Crossbar Inside the Second 8 |
| 1880-P | VAM 7 | 8/7 Crossbar at the Top Interior of the Second 8 |
| 1880-P | VAM 8 | 8/7 Ears Top Left and Right Second 8 |
| 1880-P | VAM 9 | 8/7 Stem. Faint Diagonal Marks in Both Loops of the Second 8 |
| 1880-P | VAM 23 | 80/79 With Remains of the 7 in the Surface of the 0 |
| 1880-CC | VAM 4 | 80/79 Overdate Markings in 8 & 0 |
| 1880-CC | VAM 5 | 8/7 High 7 in the Second 8 |
| 1880-O | VAM 1A | Hangnail Reverse Reclassified as VAM 48 |
| 1880-O | VAM 4 | Crossbar With Micro-O |
| 1880-O | VAM 6 | 8/7 Top of Ear Outside Left of 8 |
| 1880-O | VAM 6B | 8/7 Ear with Hangnail Rev Reclassified as VAM 49 |
| 1880-O | VAM 43 | Doubled Ear |
| 1880-S | VAM 8 | Diagonal 8/7 Gunk in the Top Loop of the Second 8, Medium S |
| 1880-S | VAM 10 | 8/7 Crossbar with Markings in the Top of the Second 8 |
| 1882-O | VAM 3 | O/S Flush |
| 1882-O | VAM 4 | Recessed O/S |
| 1882-O | VAM 5 | O/S Broken |
| 1882-O | VAM 7 | O/O Repunched Mint Mark |
| 1883-P | VAM 10 | Sextupled Stars |
| 1883-O | VAM 4 | Strong O/O |
| 1884-P | VAM 3 | Large Dot Near the Designer’s Initial: M |
| 1884-O | VAM 6 | O/O With Underlying Remains on Bottom Left of Outside |
| 1885-S | VAM 6 | S/S Extra Serif at Bottom of S Mint Mark |
| 1886-P | VAM 1A | S/S Digit in Denticles Below the Date |
| 1886-P | VAM 17 | Doubled Arrows |
| 1886-P | VAM 21 | Line Through M from a Misplaced 8 |
| 1886-O | VAM 1A | Clashed E with 1, 2, or 7 Clashes |
| 1886-S | VAM 2 | S/S on Top and Bottom Serifs |
| 1887-P | VAM 1A | Donley Tail with a Die Break on the Bottom Right of D in DOLLAR |
| 1887-P | VAM 2 | 7/6 With a Curved Line Through the Lower Stem of 7 |
| 1887-P | VAM 5 | Doubling Most Prominent on Last 87 |
| 1887-P | VAM 12 | Alligator Eye – Doubled Vertical Line at the Front of Liberty’s Right Eye |
| 1887-O | VAM 2 | Doubled 1, Tripled 7 in 1887 |
| 1887-O | VAM 3 | 7/6 With Remains of Underlying 6 at the Base of the 7 |
| 1887-O | VAM 5 | Doubled Stars |
| 1887-O | VAM 22A | Pitted Reverse Previously Known as VAM 22 |
| 1887-S | VAM 2 | S/S With Remains of the Original S Inside the Top Loop |
| 1888-P | VAM 11 | Strong Doubling at Back and Left Inside of the Ear |
| 1880-O | VAM 1A | Clashed E on Reverse. Must Exhibit a Die Break Through the R |
| 1880-O | VAM 1B | Scar Face, Die Break from the Rim Across the Cheek of Liberty |
| 1880-O | VAM 4 | Hot Lips, Doubling on Liberty’s Lips, Chin, and Nose |
| 1880-O | VAM 9 | Doubled Arrows on Reverse |
| 1880-O | VAM 2 | Oval O Mint Mark Set High |
| 1889-P | VAM 19A | Bar Wing with a Normal Date |
| 1889-O | VAM 1A | Clashed E on Reverse with a Known Monster Double Clash E |
| 1889-O | VAM 2 | Ovular O |
| 1889-O | VAM 6 | Doubled 18-9 at the Bottom |
| 1890-CC | VAM 4 | Tail Bar Die Gouge |
| 1891-P | VAM 2 | Doubled Ear |
| 1891-CC | VAM 3 | Spitting Eagle with a Die Gouge in Liberty’s Mouth |
| 1891-O | VAM 1A | Clashed E on the Reverse. The Late-Stage Die has an Eyeball Die Break |
| 1891-S | VAM 3 | Stars to the Left of the Doubled Date |
| 1892-O | VAM 5 | Doubled 2, Doubled Ear, o/O Top Near Date with Overlapping Reeding |
| 1892-S | VAM 2 | All Date Numerals Doubled |
| 1893-P | VAM 4 | Bottom Edges of the Stars to the Left and Right of Date are Doubled |
| 1895-S | VAM 4 | S/Horizontal S |
| 1896-P | VAM 4 | Stars to the Left and Right of the Date are Doubled |
| 1896-P | VAM 19 | Top of 8 Visible in the Denticles |
| 1896-O | VAM 4 | Micro O Mint Mark (Privately Made) |
| 1897-P | VAM 6A | Pitted Reverse with Near Date |
| 1899-0 | VAM 4 | Micro O Mint Mark with Normal Date Position |
| 1899-S | VAM 7 | Doubled Date with Both 9’s Doubled Above the Numerals |
| 1900-P | VAM 11 | Doubled Eagle Reverse |
| 1900-O | VAM 5 | Micro O Mint Mark (Privately Made) |
| 1900-O | VAM 7 | O/CC Low with Doubled 0 |
| 1900-O | VAM 9 | O/CC Centered, Shifted to the Right, Doubled Date |
| 1900-O | VAM 15 | Doubled Stars to the Right of the Date |
| 1900-O | VAM 29A | Heavy Die Break from Rim Through 19 of the Date |
| 1901-P | VAM 3 | Shifted Eagle, Doubled Die Reverse |
| 1902-P | VAM 4 | Back of Liberty’s Ear Doubled |
| 1902-O | VAM 3 | Micro O Mint Mark (Privately Made) |
| 1903-S | VAM 2 | Small S Mint Mark |
| 1921-P | VAM 41A | Pitted Reverse Formerly Known as VAM 41/1A |
| 1921-P | VAM 2 | Infrequently Reeded, Revised into VAM 13, 25, 26, 27, and 28 |
| 1921-D | VAM 1A2 | Fill Die. S in TRUST is Missing. Previously Known as VAM 1A |
Because of the thousands of varieties that have been identified, some collectors try to add as many VAM die varieties as they can to their coin collections.
If you collect Morgan dollars, assembling a collection of the Top 100 VAM Morgan Dollars will take time but many collectors have achieved this goal.
