Varieties, Errors & More: Morgan Dollar Tailfeather VAMs, Part II

In the May/June 2025 installment of this column, we featured two different tailfeather orientations of 1878-P Morgan Dollars (as well as the doubled tailfeathers of the 1901 “Shifted Eagle” for comparison). These 1878 VAMs (an acronym for the original cataloguers Leroy “Van Allen” and A. George “Mallis”) are known specifically as the 8 Tailfeathers (8-TF) and 1878 7 over 8 Tailfeathers (7/8-TF). In this edition, we are going to present a few more 8-TF and 7/8-TF VAMs as well as an example of the 7 Tailfeathers (7-TF), the final 1878 Tailfeather orientation used for the remaining years of the Morgan Dollar series.

Of the 41 known 8-TF Morgan Dollar varieties, the one with the most dramatic obverse doubling is found on VAM 5, which is seen on all the letters in “E PLURIBUS UNUM” (hence the nickname “Doubled RIB”). This obverse also often comes with wonderful eye appeal due to prooflike surfaces and cameo contrast. In addition to its own uniquely engraved wing-feathers configuration (as each of the 19 known 8-TF reverses has), this reverse has doubling on “UNITED STATES OF,” “ONE,” and the wreath on both sides of the ribbon bow. Paired with nine other 8-TF obverses, the most obvious diagnostic of this reverse is in the form of a bulge of metal near the base of the “F” in “OF.”

Whereas the obverse is the star of VAM 5, it is the unique reverse of another sought-after 8-TF, VAM 14.4, that commands the spotlight. Not only does this reverse feature magnificent deep mirror surfaces, it is also the most concave reverse of the entire Morgan Dollar series. This striking “Concave Reverse” also has a curious die chip above the left wing tip, a doubled bow with parallel polishing lines inside, and doubling on the bottom of “STATES OF.”

One of the rarer 7/8-TF VAMs is the “7/3” VAM 32 variety. As explained in the aforementioned May/June 2025 article, the United States Mint, having decided to change the tailfeather count of future strikes from eight to seven, overpunched a number of 8-TF working dies with a new 7 Tailfeather (7-TF) hub. The result is 13 known 7/8-TF reverses, which are distinguishable by either extra tailfeather tips or doubling on or around the eagle. Because VAM 32 reveals three tailfeather ends showing below the seven, it is more accurately identified as a “7/3” tailfeather. Additional distinguishing features on this VAM are the diagonal die scratch down from the right cotton boll, a diagonal die gouge through the “I” and “B” of “LIBERTY” as well as a larger one in the upper tailfeathers, and diagonal polish lines in the bow.

Of the over 200 1878 Philadelphia die pairs, more than half of them have 7 Tailfeathers (7-TF), the number that all remaining issues of Morgan Dollars featured. Two of the most pursued and easily identifiable 7-TFs are VAM-115 and VAM-198, which share the same obverse. Although not as dramatic as the “7/5” VAM 44 obverse (also mentioned in the May/June installment), this obverse has clearly defined tripled cotton blossoms. Additional die markers are the doubling of “IBERTY” in “LIBERTY,” “NUM” in “UNUM,” the date, and all of the stars.