1878 7/8 Tail Feathers

The 1878 7/8 Tail Feathers is a famous die variety of the inaugural Morgan Dollar year, struck when the Philadelphia Mint refurbished early 8 Tail Feathers reverse dies by repunching the corrected 7 TF design over the original eight feathers. The repunching left visible traces of the underlying 8 TF design across the eagle's tail, creating a hybrid reverse that documents the design correction in physical form. Multiple Van Allen-Mallis varieties exist for the 7/8 TF designation, with the strongest examples (VAM-44 and similar) showing all eight underlying feathers visible alongside the seven repunched feathers. The variety belongs to the same 10,509,550-piece 1878 Philadelphia mintage that produced the 8 TF, 7 TF Reverse of 1878, and 7 TF Reverse of 1879 subtypes.

Authentication of a 7/8 TF claim relies on careful inspection of the eagle's tail under five to ten power magnification. The seven primary tail feathers of the corrected design are visible as the upper layer; the original eight feathers appear as raised undertone marks beneath them, with the count of visible underlying feathers determining the VAM attribution. Strong VAM examples show 7/8 Strong (VAM-44), Weak (VAM-41), and other configurations. PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC attribute the strongest VAM varieties in their slabs. The variety is a Top 100 Morgan VAM and a documented benchmark of the 1878 design correction.

The 1878 7/8 TF is a popular series Variety pickup that trades at a meaningful premium across all Mint State grades and is the most-collected 1878 Philadelphia die variation outside the basic subtypes. Most certified examples grade MS62 to MS64, with MS65 and above scarce. Certified slabs from PCGS or NGC with the VAM attribution noted on the holder are the standard purchase route at any meaningful price level, since variety counterfeits and misattributions both circulate in the raw market. The Van Allen-Mallis attribution system catalogues every documented Morgan die marriage, and the Top 100 Morgan VAM register identifies the most-collected varieties for specialist collectors. For the Bland-Allison Act backdrop and the broader design-correction story that produced the variety, see the Morgan Dollar series history.