1902-O Morgan - VAM Or Just Mint Owie

I think you are correct Mitch. There are also some great die cracks from the outer margin of the coin, through the "P" in Pluribus and wrapping around to the bottom of Liberty's neck. This coin has some major character. I can't find any pricing info on VAM World for the coin. It's a Choice BU. Ideas anyone? PG

Every Morgan and Peace dollar is a VAM as VAM is just a catalog of the different die pairings that struck a coin of these two series of coins. I haven't checked on VW to see which VAM this one looked like but did want to give this information about every Morgan and Peace dollar being a VAM

I can try to help, but the photos as is are not helping my cause. Nothing against the photos, it is just that the 02-Os can be a real bear to attribute, since many of the attribution points can be very subtle.

I doubt it is a VAM-1, since most dies and die pairs have been identified. The filled 2 will not help either really, as many 02-Os have filled and unfilled 2s depending on EDS or LDS. The filled 2 is cool however.

I doubt your coin carries any premium, but if you want to pursure it further, take a close-up of the olive berry(ies) and mint mark. We can start there.

When I asked for a photo of the olive berry(ies), I was looking for whether this is a C4 or C4/C3 reverse.

That being said, I cannot match up the date placement and mint mark placement with any listed VAM based on your photos.

We can go through some more list this, list that, but I suspect it may be fruitless.

So, without outright declaring so, I think you may have a new die marriage. On another forum, I would ask that you send it to me for examination. But since I don't frequent here much, you don't know me from Adam.

So I suggest you send it to John Roberts at ANACS or John Baumgart at Variety Slabbing Service for review. They will likely consult with me if they can't figure it out on their own.

I don't mind trying to work more here if you want. Best place to start is a photo of the olive berry(ies) and a close-up of the m/m. But if you want to send it for professional examination, do so to one of those mentioned above.

I will say this, without knowing what VAM you actually do have, it will likely not carry any premium at all. So be careful about how much you invest into postage, insurance and attribution fees.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I will cheerfully risk my reputation here by recommending VfM without hesitation as the person to examine your coin, paleoguy45. He is, literally, the guy who wrote the book on 1902-O's and there's probably not another individual in VAMming who is more qualified to decide whether or not this one's a new die pair.

Before we start donating $$ to the USPS, I took a little more time. I think the hit on your m/m faked me out a bit. So let's try VAM-45 Die #5. Does your coin have these markers?

Good. Glad I could help. Still no premium however, but not many 02-Os do have one.