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 Replies: 22 / Views: 4,002 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
From the latest VamView: 1878-S VAM 111 (XF-45 details) sells in private party sale for $11,000. The VAM 111 has three known specimens: Two in "details" holders and the third (discovered Aug 2012) is yet to be sent in for grading. I am the holder of this third example and believe it will grade XF-45.    I've picked several important Vams over the years ... two 1878-P VAM 123's (XF45 and F15) and an 1880-P VAM 8 (AU-53) that I received "offers I couldn't refuse". Plus 1878 8TF Vams 5, 14.5, 14.6, two 14.13's and a 14.15. These I still have. But the VAM 111 blows them all out of the water. I suppose a corollary would be walking into your local B&M shop and selecting a 1909-SVDB in MS66 Red or 1916-D Merc in MS60 from the shop's bargain bin. Vamming can be like a box of chocolates.  |
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Valued Member
United States
386 Posts |
Great story. Vamming has so far been a great experience for me. I don't look at RAW Morgan's the same way anymore. You never know what treasure may be in front of you.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
Hmm this may be something for me to look into. I have bought all of my morgans raw and most of them were from private parties. Maybe I have a gem in their. do you recommend a specific book for vams?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5611 Posts |
Great find for a VAM Hunter, Congrats.... PS, I would suggest for ANY person doing Morgan/Peace Dollar Research the Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan & Peace dollars By Leroy C.Van Allen & A. George Mallis. ( The Fathers of the Vamming Galaxy )as We know it, You will NOT be sorry you made the move!! There are also updated Reports/Pamphlets that also are put out by Mr Van Allen. The Latest I have is the New Varieties of Morgan & Peace dollars 1992-2010, Dated 2011... Good Hunting......Be Well, Mike |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2797 Posts |
Quote:
Hmm this may be something for me to look into. I have bought all of my morgans raw and most of them were from private parties. Maybe I have a gem in their. do you recommend a specific book for vams?
The VAMWorld site is your first stop. It contains links to all the listed VAMs and the majority of the listings have decent pictures to help you attribute your coins. It also has a discussion forum, and helpful links (including reference materials). All Morgan and Peace dollars are VAMs and a small percentage of these carry premiums. If a coin is listed with an Interest Factor 5 or above (I-5) and an Rarity factor of 6 or greater (R-6) there's a good chance there's a premium. The price guide is the best reference (not perfect) for determining potential value. |
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Valued Member
United States
255 Posts |
Seated Nut...did you sell your coin for $11,000 or was it someone else? Are you going to sell yours? I am so happy for you to have a coin worth so much. What fun it must have been when you realized what it was!
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
That is insane! What a great find. Not long ago someone started a topic with a vote on whether collecting Morgans by VAM number was worth it. I voted heck yeah. You my friend have more proof of that than I do. Congrats! BTW this is listed as an R6 on VAMworld? Sounds more like an R10. Edited by dave700x
10/15/2012 9:17 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
I am wondering if the buyer is the same one that offered me over 20k for the VAM-85 (which I turned down) before I ever sent it in to LVA for attribution. I am kind of feeling it may have been since he is a major 1878 Morgan collector. There are allot of BIG players that collect 1878 VAM's as well as others but some of the ones that have a whole set of 1878 VAM's seem to have deep pockets and will pay big money for hard to find 1878 VAM's just to keep their set complete |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
I had no idea that VAM's are so desired. It is exciting for me to think that I may have all new coins |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
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Seated Nut...did you sell your coin for $11,000 or was it someone else? Are you going to sell yours? I am so happy for you to have a coin worth so much. What fun it must have been when you realized what it was!
The coin that sold was not mine. Two of the three have been details-graded (problem) and attributed as VAM 111. I intend to send mine in for grading and attribution and will share results here. After that, who knows. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
Bryan, I don't know who you are referring to, but as soon as I posted the coin on VAMWorld a few months ago, the pm's started coming in asking if I was selling. I had no idea of value and decided to get it certified first.
Dave700x - The Interest and Rarity (I-, R- factors) listed in VAMWorld are assigned by Leroy Van Allen when he confirms the new variety and assigns a number to it. It's his best guess. The collecting community is dynamic and sometimes goes outside these numbers. On the coin rarity scale three survivors equals a 9.8 rarity. A 6.0 would indicate there are likely up to 500 surviving specimens.
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
My comment on the rarity scale was not meant to discredit Leroy Van Allen or VAMmorld in any way. I realize these numbers are best guess at the time of discovery. It was only meant to further boost the significance of your coin.
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Valued Member
United States
199 Posts |
"A Side Benefit to Vamming"  That's not only a subject line, but it's the truth that many do not realized. VAMming is a HOBBY. Don't quit your day job and think you can support your family with it.   Congrats for that v111 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
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as soon as I posted the coin on VAMWorld a few months ago, the pm's started coming in asking if I was selling The exact same thing that happened to me so I can relate. But you have to admit it does make things exciting even if you are not ready to sell. Quote:
The Interest and Rarity (I-, R- factors) listed in VAMWorld are assigned by Leroy Van Allen when he confirms the new variety and assigns a number to it As far as Rarity thing goes there have only been 4 of the VAM-85's been found so far (that I know of) since Oct 2010 and its a R6 also. Everyone thought when mine was discovered that that number was going to be off by quite a bit because there was no way the Reverse die lasted very long at all but as Seated Nut said its just a guess that LVA puts on the coin when he has the coin in his hands and attributes it with a specific VAM number. Also unlike Bust Halves I have seen the rarity really isn't what makes it worth the money, its the interest level. If its a coin that is a date or mm or whatever type of attributes it has that allot of people collect then they are all going to need that VAM to complete their sets and that brings the price way up, the more collectors needing it the more you will get for it when time to sell. There are some R6 VAM's that sell at little to no premium but then there are some like the one SeatedNut has that sells for 10-15 times what another coin of the same date/mm would be worth |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
Seated nut, I just startedlooking into vamming my morgans. This is much more difficult than I I thought it would be. How do others see the details of the coin.
I started with the 1878 p coins because I have three and I think I have all three reverse types but I am having difficulty grading them beyond the tail feather type
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
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Seated nut, I just startedlooking into vamming my morgans. This is much more difficult than I I thought it would be. How do others see the details of the coin.
I started with the 1878 p coins because I have three and I think I have all three reverse types but I am having difficulty grading them beyond the tail feather type silvercoinrn, No worries ... it wasn't easy for me either. My first VAM experience was on CCF in 2007. My coin was an 1878-P long nock (7 feather B1 reverse). The features matched several listed VAMs. I had to learn the combinations to figure it out. My coin was a VAM 82. Once I learned that the V82 is the only one with detached leaves and a complete nostril I had a BINGO! Next I started trying to attribute 78-P Morgans from ebay pictures (download and enhance). My success rate at first was not good, actually it was miserable. And I paid too much for coins based on faulty attributions ... this was another motivation to improve. I can't remember when it happened, but one day it all sort of just clicked. I developed a rhythm for vamming. My eyes would start looking first at the # of tailfeathers, the nock, the 'r' in trust, 'o' in God, etc. Using this "by the numbers" method I was able to put the coin in a very small group of candidates within a few seconds. If interested in the coin I would do a side-by-side compare with photos on VAMWorld. Probably the greatest help in my learning process was the assistance I got here (I won't embarrass these two guys but they are here regularly and have very high post counts  ). If you are able to take and post decent photos of the complete obverse and reverse of the coin, do so here and we are more than happy to help. A caveat for me though ... since the Julian Assange debacle (Wikileaks), VAMWorld is not a site I can visit during the workday. I have to wait to get home. If it's an 1878 I can normally do it without VW. Another caveat ... I'm more than happy to help until you get to the point that you are competing with me on ebay.  |
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Replies: 22 / Views: 4,002 |
Posted 10/15/2012 4:04 pm
