Why Are Counterfeits Listed As Varieties

The VAM numbers were assigned prior to the type being identified as a counterfeit. The "Micro O" types were high-quality contemporary counterfeits, encompassing multiple mintage years and therefore eluded detection for quite a while.

If they are well known fakes, why are they listed with real coins? Shouldn't;t the VAM numbers be removed and replaced with "Fake" or something like that? Or are other VAMs also fake coins?

these aren't coins minted in China like you see all over ebay, these were made and circulated right along side their counterparts. Allot of the times the silver content in the fakes were more than whats in the originals. You have to also look at when the VAM encyclopedia was written and at that time these weren't even discovered to be counterfeit and if you find one of these in a PCGS slab you will notice they sell for quite a premium over their counterparts with a regular MM also

there are allot of different known counterfeits that circulated with their originals that are collected by variety just because they are known counterfeits doesn't change the fact they are different varieties of them. As I said these are allot different than the junk being produced in China. I am not saying I would collect them along side the real ones but allot of people do consider them as a part of a collection and if they want a collection of known fake varieties they have to know the differences. Just because it wasn't minted by the US mint doesn't change the fact there are still a different variety just like all other known fakes that are collected

You're spot on. I think the answer is that they have sufficient interest to command their own designation for the benefit of collectors, and the counterfeit aspect was discovered after the nomenclature became ingrained in collecting usage.

VAMworld has a 1902-O micro O on their home page right now, this one was apparently just assigned a VAM number-



VAM of the Week: 1902-O VAM-67 (privately made)
The newest member of the 'family'
This contemporary counterfeit is yet another piece tied to the Micro O family. Almost as a
Halloween 'trick or treat', this piece was given to me by a friend who wanted nothing to do
with counterfeits. Unlike the recent flood of spurious pieces from China, this was produced
to circulate as a dollar. Several theories have been advanced to explain their origins, but we
may never know the truth. The intrigue surrounding the 'family' only adds to their appeal.

For a wealth of information on this subject, see Micro O and Other Counterfeit Morgan and
Peace dollars by Leroy Van Allen.

The VAM 67 illustrated here was reported October 27, 2009

The micro Os listed for 1880-O and 1899-O are for real. The ones listed for 1896-O, 1900-O and 1902-O are "privately made" and fakes, but the silver content is a tad better then the Mints, therefore they rang true on a ring test. It wasn't until 2000 when NGC finally made the call that they were fakes and stopped attributing them and later the other TPGs joined in. So it was years and years before they came to be known and no one knows just who exactly is responsible for making them or the time period they were made in. Lots of ideas but the coins aren't talking! LOL

thanks