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Gothic Florin
Pillar Of The Community
United States
1182 Posts |
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How can I help support Coin Community?
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NPCoin
New Member
United States
6 Posts |
 Posted 03/11/2010 3:39 pm
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Generally, the higher the grade, the easier to the naked eye a VAM is to identify. At that, any New Orleans AU prior to 1890 would be a good start. You have a large number of possible VAMs to search for from the New Orleans mint. You should be able to get "O" mint Morgans in AU for under $30, which is quite affordable.
The best site would probably be VAM World as they list quite the number of photos of VAMs so you can actually see examples of what you should be looking for.
And as far as VAMs go, if you got a Morgan, you got a VAM! VAMs are simply identified varieties, and even the "normal" die pair is a VAM. If you are not able to identify your Morgan's VAM from those illustrated at VAM World, you may well have a new, as of yet to be identified, VAM. You may want to take extra time reading through the information provided on the VAM World site.
Very exciting stuff here!
Good luck and enjoy the VAM searching.
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Ozland
Valued Member
USA
277 Posts |
Posted 03/11/2010 5:01 pm
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If you like varieties in the Morgan and Peace dollars you will enjoy vamming. As to where to start? There are a number of vammers who enjoy collecting clashed E coins. 1884-P VAM 2A or 1891-O VAM 1A are interesting clashed E's. A clashed E is the E from Miss Liberty's head band L-I-B-E-R-T-Y on the obverse of the coin transferred to the reverse normally located between the tail feathers and the wreath bow on the Morgan dollar.
I recommend you go to www.vamworld.com and read the VAM 101 tutorial. It will help you have a better understanding of what vamming is.
Vamming is cutting edge numismatic forensics.
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Gothic Florin
Pillar Of The Community
United States
1182 Posts |
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SeatedNut
Pillar Of The Community
United States
1988 Posts |
Posted 03/12/2010 09:36 am
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Gothic,
Both are reasonably obtainable. The spitting eagle seems to be as common as the normal die. The hot lips is an enigma ... it's one of those that maintains great popularity despite large numbers. Due to that popularity it's priced higher than a lot of rarity 6 and 7 coins in the same grade.
The VAMView price guide shows the following prices paid recently:
1880-O Hot Lips: VF $250, XF $550, and AU $1300
1891-CC Spitting Eagle: VF $120, XF $150, and AU $220
If you aren't hung up on the highest grades, I've seen VG and Fine Hot Lips on EBay for less than $100. Of course the greatest fun is finding them "unattributed" and cherrying them. 
I have to offer a post script ... you initially mentioned "putting your toe in the water". I must warn you ... the VAM Pool is very deep and you'll find yourself over your head in no time at all. Do not be afraid though ... the water is optimum temperature and has healing qualities. 
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Edited by SeatedNut - 03/12/2010 09:40 am |
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SuperDave
Moderator
USA
6296 Posts |
Posted 03/12/2010 09:53 am
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Quote:
I've heard of the Hot Lips and Spitting Eagle VAMs. Are they reasonably priced?
Define "reasonable."
The Spitting Eagle is actually the most common 1891-CC variety, and should not carry a premium. The Hot Lips, on the other hand, is subject to great popularity and demand, and as such tends to sell at a premium. As a case in point, one person has a Grading Set of them, complete from FR02 to MS61 - anything popular enough to warrant that kind of attention is going to cost you to acquire. 
Every Morgan is a VAM, discovered or not. It's an area where you either need to bring a whole bunch of money and plan on buying hundreds of coins, or narrow to a very specific specialty. If your interest is just to own a couple examples of fairly striking varieties, look in the 1921's. There are some pretty impressive anomalies among the 1921's:
1921's don't trade at a huge premium. The first coin I posted, a 1921-P VAM-41B, is a Top 100 Pitted Reverse variety with amazing pitting and polishing - the pic doesn't do it justice. Until you reach MS64, though, it doesn't sell for much extra because they're fairly common.
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Bryan1315
Moderator
USA
7791 Posts |
Posted 03/12/2010 1:23 pm
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I would suggest buying the encyclopedia or go to VAMWorld and then see if anything jumps out at you that you really like. The easiest way to get a cheap "good" VAM is to get one that is unattributed from someone that doesn't even know what a VAM is or doesn't care enough to even look to see what VAM it actually is. I have heard allot of dealers say they just don't have the time to do the research on VAM's and if they get cherrypicked they are fine with it because they paid a certain amount and will not sell it unless they get a certain amount over that and if the person buying it has the knowledge to cherrypick the coin then more power to them. Allot of the VAM's do not carry much or any premium over the base coin in the same grade so just because its a particular VAM doesn't mean it is a valuable one but each is unique in its own way and all are fascinating to me
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Ozland
Valued Member
USA
277 Posts |
Posted 03/12/2010 4:32 pm
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Since you want to put your toes in the water first. there are two books I highly recommend reading before you proceed. The Top 100 Morgan dollar varieties: The VAM Keys by Dr. Michael Fey and Jeff Oxman. The second book I recommend is Elite Clashed Morgan Dollars by Doctor Mark Kimpton. Both are excellent with lots of pictures. If you like what you see, then you will have a good handle on how you will want to proceed. As to where to locate the two books, I recommend www.vamsandmore.com. It is a good place to start. Logan McKechnie is a long time stalwart in the hobby.
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SuperDave
Moderator
USA
6296 Posts |
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aladinslamp
Pillar Of The Community
United States
1036 Posts |
Posted 03/15/2010 02:16 am
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toe's in the water mean you can pay a lot before you know what's going on....It's a cool pool though...education is the key......and good advice from those who know is very important!take your time! the water is warm......and fun! but take your time, so you don't waist good money on common Vams........they are all vams...the morgans.....
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