Knowledge Is King?

Congrads Zee,


Russ

WE ARE MITH BUSTERS

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

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+*-d-pepper]congrad's Zee.....After getting back int town, I am glad things are back to normal! I was concerned that exploration of an idea went south...I thought about it today .It REALLY IS a great thread, and I hope to see many more like it, In the end if we all disagree, we can at least agree that we disagree....
Cause and effect will always have opinions, the effect is self evident....its the cause that try to understand..many are not even interested but some of us are...In a thread such as this..It has brought some great info out, on how things could happen, and also, that there can be more than only one reason, as not all cases in study all have the same attributes...
Again

I have not received any emails for that subject,
but then why would I ?
I'm not sure the numbers are correct.. but in any event, there is a new push to help any one interested and they don't have to be the registry collectors.....AS far as vamming goes.. they are every where...they are ingrained into the top TPG's and Cherry Pickers Guide.. you can find them at gun shows, and flee markets,,, many want to cash in, without claiming to be a vammer..THEY STILL LURK............ Its the money thing....
I don't want to get into that subject....

Hey Z congrats on the 1K (and you've posted 65 since).

Good call on asking for a definition of "Vammer". I see much more activity in Vamming than could be supported by 600. I believe this to be the core of those who collect. The profiteer numbers far exceed this number in my book. These are the folks who took the time to learn, spend a great deal of time pursuing unattributed coins and flipping for significant $$$.

Ozland and I had that different view of the future of Vamming on another thread (Baby Boomer vs Gen X'er). A survey was floated on VamWorld asking everyone's age ... the majority are Boomers, but there were a surprising number of Gen X representatives.

Vamming is getting harder as more enter the playing field. I've noticed a marked increase in competition over the last three years on ebay. Now I'm seeing those cherry-picks return attributed in PCGS, NGC, and ANACS slabs for laughable prices. But the market saturation is taking its toll. There is far less interest in all but the top specimens. But still ...

Zeewool, you are looking, and posting, at the future of VAMming. Not *just* CCF, of course, but VAMming needs to go mainstream to sustain itself into the future.

Pretty much every serious Bust Half collector is intimately familiar with Overton types. Likewise early copper people and Sheldon. Yet, how many times have we needed to explain the term " VAM" to someone who has already collected Morgans for years?

VAMs are not as accessible as the other variety listings, both because they're a work in progress, and because of the sheer size of the database. Makes it a kinda daunting task; only a very, very few will ever assemble anything resembling a "complete" set even under the most liberal definition of the term. Yet, by nature, numismatists are students of the details. I contend that one does not have to raise desire in the heart of the collector, only awareness, and their natural orientation will supply the rest. So all we need to do, is to sustain this effort through the next few years.

I am a member of the last generation which will not be considered "Internet-connected," having grown to adulthood in a world where the PC was not ubiquitous. Those who follow me view the Internet as a destination, a resource completely integrated with their lifestyle. The coin collectors among them will naturally gravitate to, and learn from, places like CCF. They don't run for the library; they don't operate in solitude. They have the resources of the entire Earth at their fingertips, and they know it. As long as when they get there, people like you and I and Seated Nut and Aladdin and Russ are already discussing VAMs, well, the process will happen naturally.

There is nothing in numismatics remotely close to the effort already expended on VAMs, and we've still just barely scratched the surface. It is, IMO, the single largest numismatic research project ever undertaken. It's the most collaborative ever attempted. It couldn't be done any other way - there's simply too much to accomplish. Instead of being "the guy who defined the system" like Overton or Sheldon, individual efforts in VAMming tend to have to concentrate on single dates, like the guy at VAMworld who is devoting himself to 1902-O's. That's the only way one can ever hope to encompass "everything" regarding an issue; 1878 alone contains more sheer data than any other single issue in the history of the US Mint.

Yes, the younger generations tend to be more "instant gratification" oriented than previous. I don't consider that "bad" or "good," just a thing. There will always be those who remain unsatisfied, though, those whose thinking patterns require them to look further under the surface. Among this latter class is the future of VAMming, and all we have to do to inspire their participation is to already be talking about it when they get here.

For some people, there is great satisfaction to be taken from being a part of something bigger than themselves. The world of VAMs will not be completed during my lifetime, and I cannot describe the feeling I derive from getting to be even a very small part of the process. The scope of the task is so broad, though, and the timeframe so long, that people like me who will never get their name on a Discovery Coin can still make valuable contributions. This place, Coin Community, and the practice of educating those who are brand-new to the arena, is where I choose to make my contribution to the effort. As long as there are people like me introducing newer collectors to the fascination of Morgan dollar varieties, there will be new personalities whose bent is to research, and who will throw themselves into the core task of adding to the store of raw data.




You're already doing it.

Well, I just wanted to leave the door open for other possibilities, but I haven't thought of any yet...mainly because of my limited knowledge of the minting process. :)

You are a wise man Steve....Bravo !