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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
A nudge in the right direction would be a big help. Trying to first sort by the reverse/mint mark. Mint mark looks upright and centered to me? Is this a good strategy? Any other tips/hints? Had to crunch large pics, hope they're ok. Thanks, Ed   Edited by edweather
12/12/2015 11:40 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
I think I know which one it is. I have one if I'm right. Not a money VAM but a cool one with some tooling to remove doubling on the chin / neck line. Ok I've said enough so here's you're big clue... Its a slant date  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7375 Posts |
Thanks cascade. OK, so if it's a slanted date, it's either a 1A, 41, or 44 right, unless I missed one. I checked mine against those on VAMworld, and it's close, but the die polishing lines don't match up perfectly. I'll try and find a few examples on Heritage, etc, and compare them. edit: I did find your thread on your VAM 41. I think I can exclude VAM 41 on mine. Am I at least on the right track with the centered upright O? Edited by edweather
12/12/2015 6:11 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
Yes the mm looks centered and either upright or slightly tilted right tiff to tell about the tilt from the pics.
The location with the slant date is what made me think 41. Can you post a clear close-up of the mm please taken straight on
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
The pic does enlarge if you click it, but I will try and get a close up of the mm, and I also found a very small crack from the top of the hat to the bottom of the PLURIBU(S,) which I will also try and get. OK here they are. Looks like the mm is slightly tilted left.   Edited by edweather
12/12/2015 10:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
BAM  It's a VAM 31 Triple Ear Lobe......check me out please.  Edited by edweather
12/12/2015 11:35 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
By George I think you got it ed  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Check out the new ear lobe pic, and every thing matches, even the little crack from the hat to the S
I've got 10 more of these 1904-O's
Edited by edweather
12/12/2015 11:39 pm
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
Good eye Ed, that's a VAM31 for sure. 1904-O is a fun date to collect. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
I know this has probably been asked a bazillion times before, but is there any place to check VAM rarities or values? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1314 Posts |
Yes. On the VAMworld website, http://www.vamworld.com/1904-O+VAM-31  There are three bits of data. The first, in parentheses, is the reed count. It can be counted, and depending on the VAM, may employ collar dies with differing counts. The second is the "I" number, it is a number designated to indicate relative interest. The scale is from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most interesting. The third number, "R" is the rarity. The scale goes from 1 to 8, with 8 being the rarest. Note that both the I and R numbers are assigned by Leroy Van Allen, and both are estimates based on his experience. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
Good info chute. Also, you can join the SSDC. They have all the info out there about morgan and peace vams. (Society of Silver Dollar Collectors)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Great info both of you, thanks.
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Valued Member
United States
149 Posts |
Be aware that the rarity number as assigned by Leroy at the time of discovery is an estimate based on what the coin looks like. R-5 is his starting point, because that's the typical number of coins that should still exist from a given die pair. If there is an advance die break or feature that indicates the die should have been promptly removed from service, he estimates a higher number. If there's a feature that collectors should have noticed by now, but haven't, he assumes that's because the coin is rare and assigns a higher number. Sometimes he's right, sometimes not, and only time will tell. Do not make an attempt at determining a value based on rarity number.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3173 Posts |
Awesome Job Ed! Congrats!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1314 Posts |
Edwether, the other part of your inquiry is price. This gets a little trickier, but here is what you should know. Heritage Auctions has a great data base for prior sales. Registry is free and well worth it. ebay may, as well. Log in and search for previous sales. This isn't as sure as researching commodity prices. They can be trendy and prices fluctuate. Very frequently a bidder will pay much more than common money because the coin is a VAM that is recognizable by the photograph but not mentioned in the title or description. Also consider the publication, VAMview. This is a price guide published by C. Logan McKechnie and available at his store, VAMs and More. As with all price guides, take with a grain of salt. There is often a significant difference between wholesale and retail prices. Too, many of the listed VAM prices are based on just a few sales, and in the long run may not be accurate. Still, it is the best source of info, and is constantly being updated. At the very least, much like the RedBook, it will show relative values, and point out what others are interested in. It is also worth knowing that Logan usually has some of the previous year's publications for a reduced price. When it comes to the specifics of the 1904-O series, the two most popular VAMs are the V-4B and 28A. Primarily because they are on lists. However, there are many other VAMs in the series that are attractive and interesting, but command little premium. These are often found without attribution and include but aren't limited to, 2A, 32, 35A/B and 37. http://coins.ha.com/us-coins/?ic=Br...ns-us-121913http://vamsandmore.net/?page_id=4619 |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 4,048 |
Posted 12/12/2015 4:55 pm
