Early State Of 1923-D VAM-1Bq Die Break Above Vs

Every coin struck by those two dies is VAM-1BQ whether there's a die crack on them or not. It's likely, though, that it will end up combined with some other VAM(s) in the future, because there are certainly uncracked examples and it's possible one of those has already been designated as a VAM.

There are thousands of VAMs and more thousands to be found. This effort might he at the halfway point.

Nice images. They paint a clear picture.

Leroy assigns R ratings based as much on feel as anything, having held more Morgans than anyone else, probably ever. It's going to be a very long time before empirical data backs up estimates on most VAMs. Only a very small percentage of known VAMs (call it 5000) carry additional value. There are too few specializing, relatively speaking, to pressurize the more common varieties.

It'll cost you a quarter of a million dollars to assemble a grouping of VAMs which would be considered "substantial." Call it half the known total, in Mint State. That's a daunting goal, and it would be a ton of work on the collector's part because few shortcuts exist.

I can't imagine anything more than subsets of VAMs ever being popular. It's too big a job. That's why the bigger names in VAMming are authoring lists - they make subset collecting desirable.

Edit to add: I can see 1BQ - or whatever it becomes - getting on a list. The cracking is substantial even for a Peace dollar.