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 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,362 |
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New Member
United States
22 Posts |
i just sold 50 morgans on e-bay (for a nice profit I might add) and in my feedback, a buyer thanked me for a very nice VAM 113 and a very nice VAM 73. do theese coins comand a higher price and if so how can I detect them?  |
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Valued Member
United States
237 Posts |
Can't tell without the years.
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New Member
 United States
22 Posts |
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New Member
United States
22 Posts |
1878-p 7tf sold for 64 stated it was a VAM 115 and 1878-p 7tf for 76 stated it was a VAM 83 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
860 Posts |
VAM = Van Allen and Mallis book, Comphrehensive Catalogue and Encyclopedia of US Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars. Mine is 1976 edition, but there is additions since then on a website. If you deal with Silver Dollars, you need a reference source of VAMs. Maybe there is another book or website that lists all of them. The book is one of my main reference books. 1878P VAM 111 is called the "Dropped R" and described as " slightly doubled LIBERTY ( LIB only) Doubled R and U of TRUST, with the R dropped down. Doubled 7 star on the left and 1 star on the right. COINage mag lists the TOP varieties and you can check the value of the 111 there. The VAM 83 has a longer description with a large degree of doubling. If you want I can type it out for you, but main is doubled LIBERTY shifted left and all of E PLURIBUS UNUM doubled, and then some stars and date doubling. Didn't find it in the COINage I had handy. Hope this helps. Any errors are mine :) Jim
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Pillar of the Community
United States
860 Posts |
Haaa see what I mean about errors :) Sorry, gave 111 instead of 115. VAM 115 ( Doubled Date) Doubled IBERTY shifted left with RTY having large shifts. Doubled NUM in UNUM and doubled date. All stars on right and left doubled, some with large shifts. Jim |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
954 Posts |
A VAM is not an error, it is a variety. It's really just die marriages, every Morgan and Peace is a VAM. If you want to learn about them, it is a huge time investment. I think by the time you spent figuring out what VAMs all your coins were, you wouldn't have made as much......time is money  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
527 Posts |
VAM's are the new craze in silver dollar collecting. They are as Becky has stated, a description of the die marriage and the condition those dies are in at the time. Many dies start to get blemishes as they are used, these blemishes are documented. Some of the coins have doubling in them, and some have die cracks from when the die is reaching the end of it's life, and some have clash marks from when the dies strike together without a coin in the machine. Yes, some of these coins command a higher premium, but also as Becky stated it is very time consuming identifying the variety. In my experience however it has almost doubled the money I have put into the coins. It has taken several hours in some cases, but I enjoy the "hunt and find" so time is of no importance to me. If you are looking at it from a business standpoint, it probably isn't worth it. If you are looking at it as a hobby and as a collector, it is very enjoyable and addicting. If you are curious, you can post the dates, mint, and VAM info you have, and I will do my best to give you any info I can. Or you can check them out yourself at this link. http://www.vamworld.com/ |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
860 Posts |
Ngiles, Thanks for the website. I used to have it bookmarked, but changed computers and browsers and lost it. It does take time, but they don't seem as difficult as some of the RPMs and such on cents, plus my eyes haven't gotten better as I have aged :)
Jim
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
MUDPUPPY, As stated previously, all Morgan and Peace dollars are VAMs. The majority are not worth a premium, but there are a select few that command astronomical premiums ... because they are extremely rare. I posted a thread awhile back about another ebay seller offering an 1878 8TF VAM 14.11 (wild eye spikes) in MS. This coin could have easily fetched $2500+ if graded and attributed by the top three TPG's. Unfortunately we'll never know because the seller de-listed the item after 24 hours. Speculation is that a buyer made a side offer or advised the seller of the attribution. I watched a heritage auction for the LeRoy Van Allen 1878 8TF VAM 14.7 (flake on ear) last week that closed at $12,000. By far the most high-priced VAMs are associated with the 1878 8TF. Most of the other high value VAMs demonstrate significant doubling and/or clashing. |
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New Member
United States
22 Posts |
thank you all for the dip in the well of knowledge. I still think dave has a cape!
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Replies: 10 / Views: 2,362 |
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Posted 04/23/2008 5:49 pm
