VAMs. Where Is The Hobby Headed?

Stop. This exchange will not continue.

I think it is as simple as this... Collectors collect, sellers sell. I collect. I have not sold a coin ever. I have gifted coins. I have been on the receiving end of the gifting process. (great feelings for both) But in the end, VAMings allure to me as Oz pointed out was my ability to nab some rare gem for peanuts. I have been fortunate on the Peace dollar front in my pickings. I have been lucky to nab some top-pop biguns. (I am letting the cat out of the bag here) That said, I do not intend on getting rid of them even though there is a gigantic premium for coins like these. WHY? Because I LIKE THEM. I am a collector and we collectors collect. I am even diving into other non-VAM coins these days (working on a 3 cent silver set) which was WAY outta my intentions when I first started buying coins. (which was to obtain silver. Plain and simple) So the VAMing community will continue to get people like me who want to collect but not spend big bucks to do so, and those who want to do it to make money. I say that the collector will outlast the prospectors. IMO.... GOING HOME. Chat tomorrow!

When one asks where is the hobby headed? The answer lies in where is the coin collecting hobby headed? Many of the issues that confront coin collecting in general are the same issues that confront the VAM collector.

Counterfeiting is becoming more problematic every day as the counterfeiters have gotten better. In fact, vamming might be the last bastion of coin collecting as the hobby deals with the identification of die pairs.

Other challenges that must be overcome is one must be able to grade accurately. Otherwise, you will own many problematic coins in your collection. These will include but not not limited to counterfeit coins. Coins that have been improperly cleaned, whizzed, artificially toned, and artificially enhanced (added mintmarks).

What is especially hurtful to the collector is these coins for the most part were sold to the collector without his or her knowledge of these being problem coins.

In an Internet age where coins can be purchased by the punch of a few strokes of the keyboard, it has been estimated that seventy percent (70%) of coins sold raw over the Internet are problem coins. These are coins that will not holder (slab) by the top tier grading companies.

Grading companies came into existence for two reasons. (1) dealers wanted to purchase sight unseen coins. (2) problem coins were so pervasive that it hurt the coins dealers ability to sell coins.

Another issue that also underlined credibility was the overhyping of coins. Mint state choice uncirculated MS 63 were sold as Gem uncirculated MS 65. Years later when the collector passed away and the heirs returned to the coin shops to sell, they were informed these coins were brillant uncirculated (low mint state, MS 61/62) or worse these were Almost uncirculated coins!

These issues have not gone away, so the successful collector must be able to accurately grade coins or he or she is at a terrible disadvantage.

I will continue the discussion later.

I left this discussion with issues of credibility, relative to over hyping of coins that dealers sell. In all fairness, there are many coin dealers but not all of them can accurately grade a coin. They all want the most for their coins and over hyping is one aspect of collecting the collector must learn to deal with. Conversely, dealers operate under the premise of "buy smart, sell smart". That means most want the lowest price they can possibly pay on purchase and on the selling side, they want what the market will bear.

Before I discuss vams, the collector should assess his or her collecting needs. Are you doing this as a hobbyist? More as an accumulator? For investment? (there is a money component to this after all)

So now one day you are exposed to vams.

Vamming in a nutshell is the process of identifying the specific die pairs for the Morgan and Peace dollars.
Why would anyone do this? The Morgan and Peace dollars are replete with some very dramatic varieties.

It allows you the individual collector to pit your knowledge skill set against dealers who sell coins but unwilling to invest the time to learn vams.

Here the axiom of buy smart, sell smart really comes into play. For example: A 1901-O in Mint state 63 sells for around sixty-five dollars. If it is a VAM 39A "fish hook" it sells for around two thousand five hundred dollars. So it does pay to pay attention. (no pun intended)

The lure of finding an ultra rarity for common money is very alluring. This has also fostered renewed interest in long time Morgan and Peace dollar collectors.
But like everything else, there is a price.

I will discuss more later this evening.

Good posts Terry and Remmy. Good posts. While I do see what you guys are seeing, I also see something else for the future. I don't look at anything through rose colored glasses. One of my lenses is always either mirrored or very dark in shade. I see great irony enveloping the vamming market versus the vamming hobby. You both know that I call 'em like I see 'em, and I see a grove of flowering dogwoods being choked out by kudzu.

I would like to know how you know about Kudzu? For those of you who don't know about Kudzu, it is a viney plant imported from Japan. It was brought over to be used on highway right of ways or prevent erosion of hill sides. Kudzu is a fast grower and it will literally enveope a telephone pole, whole barns, trees and anything else it can cling to.
Kudzu (Pueraria lobata is a plant in the genus Pueraria in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine native to southern Japan and southeast China. Its name comes from the Japanese name for the plant, Kuzu.

Kudzu is sometimes called ge gçn[1] (Chinese) and (due to its out-of-control growth in the Southeastern United States) has earned such nicknames as the "foot-a-night vine", "mile-a-minute vine" and "the vine that ate the South" (of the United States).
Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in 1876 and is now common throughout most of the southeastern United States. Kudzu has been spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres (61,000 ha) annually.

My family down south nicknamed it "The Southern Shade Tree".

Sorry for not seeing the joke until later.....with all the computer crap I am going through and missing out on these conversations, I was angry......my apology to all.