Klaes 51 VAMs
In 1963, Francis X. Klaes published a monograph, "Die Varieties of Morgan Silver Dollars". This preceded Leroy Van Allen's first published work by 2 years, and the first edition of the VAM book by 8. The Klaes book is a mere 26 pages and contains only 51 varieties, but it shows us an early glimpse of what Klaes found to be "one of the most fascinating, but least explored aspects of Morgan dollar collecting." I've gone through the Klaes book and converted his entries to VAM numbers that now represent them.
You will recognize many of the varieties here from popular lists now being collected, and chances are, people that have been collecting these lists have most of those here. Some comprise many VAM numbers, simply comparing mint mark sizes.
The inexpensive Klaes book is still available on the used book market if you would like to add a historic work to your VAM library. However, printed copies in circulation are becoming scarce.
| Fig # in Klaes | Year/MM | VAM # | Description in Klaes |
| 1 | 1878 8TF | VAM 16 | Dbl "LIBERTY" and stars |
| 2 (and 4) | 1878 8TF | VAM 18 | Dbl "LIBERTY", date, and stars |
| 3 (and 5) | 1878 8TF | VAM 7 | Dbl letters, date, and stars |
| 6 | 1878 7/8TF | VAM 36,VAM 37 | Normal Die |
| 7 | 1878 7/8TF | VAM 44 | Doubled leaves and date |
| 8 (and 9) | 1878 7TF | VAM 169 | Normal 7TF PAF, dbl stars, letters, 1, LIBERTY |
| 10 | 1878 7TF | VAM 81 | Some doubled stars and letters |
| 11 | 1878 7TF | VAM 210 (any C2) | Normal die |
| 12 | 1878-S | VAM 6 | Some doubled stars and letters |
| 13 | 1878-CC | VAM 6 , VAM 18 | Dbl leaves, date, and some stars |
| 14 | 1879-S | Rev. 78 | PAF (Parallel Arrow Feather) |
| 15 | 1879-S | Rev. 79 | SAF (Slanted Arrow Feather) |
| 16 | 1879-O | any Medium O | Small O |
| 17 | 1879-O | any Large O | Large O |
| 18 | 1880-S | any Medium S | Small S |
| 19 | 1880-S | any Large S | Large S |
| 20 | 1880-O | any Micro O | Small O |
| 21 | 1880-O | any Medium O | Large O |
| 22 | 1880-CC | VAM 4 | PAF (Parallel Arrow Feather) |
| 23 | 1880-CC | VAM 6,VAM 8 | SAF, Small CC |
| 24 | 1880-CC | VAM 3 | SAF (Slanted Arrow Feather), Large CC |
| 25 | 1882-O | VAM 7 | Centered O over low O |
| 26 | 1882-O | VAM 13 , VAM 14 | Centered O over slanting O |
| 27 | 1882-O | VAM 3 | Possible O over O |
| 28 | 1882-O | VAM 4 | Possible O over S |
| 29 | 1884 | VAM 3 | Large dot |
| 30 | 1884 | VAM 4 | Small dot |
| 31 | 1886-O | VAM 1A | "E" on rev. |
| 32 | 1887-O | VAM 2 | Shifted date and doubled 7 |
| 33 | 1888-O | VAM 4 | Doubled head |
| 34 | 1889-O | VAM 1A | "E" on rev. |
| 35 | 1891-O | VAM 1A | "E" on rev. |
| 36 | 1893 | VAM 4 | Some doubled stars |
| 37 | 1896-O | VAM 4 | Small O |
| 38 | 1896-O | any authentic | Large O |
| 39 | 1899-S | any Medium S | Narrow S |
| 40 | 1899-S | any Wide S | Wide S |
| 41 | 1899-O | any Micro O | Small O |
| 42 | 1899-O | any Medium O | Large O |
| 43 | 1900-S | any Medium S | Narrow S |
| 44 | 1900-S | any Wide S | Wide S |
| 45 | 1900-O | VAM 5 | Small O |
| 46 | 1900-O | any Medium O | Large O |
| 48 | 1900-O/CC | VAM 12 | O over centered CC |
| 49 | 1900-O/CC | VAM 7 , VAM 10 | O over low CC |
| 50 | 1901 | VAM 3 | Shifted eagle |
| 51 | 1902-O | VAM 3 , VAM 96 | Small O |
| 52 | 1902-O | any authentic | Large O |
| 54 | 1903-S | VAM 2 | Small S |
| 55 | 1903-S | any Wide S | Large S |
| 56 | 1921 | VAM 41B | Numerous die scratches |
Figure 10 shows an obverse from either VAM 81, 33, or 30, but since it is an early die state listed as 7TF, it must be VAM 81. Figure 47 shows a 1900-O with strike doubling on the mint mark, and is not included. Figure 53 was skipped in the original printing, but some books have correction tape renumbering figures 54 through 56 as 53 through 55.
