There has recently been some discussion (May 2010) about the early and late die states of the 1882 O over S Morgan dollar and the possibility that their die sequences were actually reversed. For over thirty years it has been documented that the die state of the three known 1882 O/S varieties, VAMs 3, 4 & 5 with only a partial recessed diagonal bar showing inside the O mint mark were the earlier die states. Those die states showing a full smooth top diagonal bar were thought to be the later die state. But actually, could the EDS be the one that exhibits more of the pre-punched S and the more that the die was used, the boldness of the underlying S diagonal bar would have faded away?

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