1878 $1 Morgan Dollar 8 Tail Feathers VAM 9 Struck on 1st Day of Morgan Dollar Production March 11 1878 PCGS XF45
VAMworld writes: “The 1878 VAM-9 Morgan silver dollar is the very first set of dies used to strike Morgan dollars! The 1878 VAM-9 is an 8 tailfeather coin… Detective work [that began with the discovery of a March 12, 1878, article in the Chicago Daily Tribune] has revealed they began striking the new Morgan coins at 3:17 PM on March 11, 1878. The combination of the die and the time is known because a reporter was present at the event and the first coins struck were presentation pieces for President Hayes. His specific coin has been preserved and studied for die features and subsequently identified as a VAM-9. According to a reporter present, only 303 pieces were struck when the die failed and new ones had to be used. The reverse die is identifiable because of the “comma” feather on the lower right side as looking at the eagle. Some VAMmers describe this feather as kidney-bean shaped and it is a key identifier of a VAM-9.” Over 659 million Morgan dollars have been minted, although the Pittman Act in 1918 authorized the melting of up to 350 million silver dollars and led to the melting of over 270 million Morgans. The VAM-9 coins are among the first 303 examples minted of the first day of striking using the first Morgan dollar die pair. That VAM-9 first die pair failed on the first day of striking and simultaneously ended coin production that first day. Those 303 coins were delivered to U.S. Mint Director Henry Linderman the following day on March 12, 1878.
