hi and a very happy new year to all. i feel somewhat dumb asking this but hey, its never stopped me from opening my mouth before!.....i am having difficulty learning how to vam attribute. i don't have very many morgans...12 actually. all uncirculated from ms62-65. i seem to be missing something as most all pics in book refer to double dates, ect. is everything else considered normal? what else should i look for? also, i have an 1886 p mint which seems to have a die break thru bottom 2 left obverse stars thru 1 and 8 in date. another from u and n on right obverse curving around back thru libertys bottom of hair,another appears to run at top from u thru liberty's cap. it is even visible in the cap. i don't have a scanner or pic capability yet so i can't show it. it seems to be a very light raised metal line in both cases. is this just a planchet flaw or metal flow or die break? the coin is nice and lustrous. graded anacs ms64.. to me, it looks as if metal flowed in to cracks when minted but i have not studied enough to know....thank you all so very much....steve
Steve: VAM's are/can be difficult to id. They mention the die breaks, over dates, and repunched dates for id'ing the varieties becasue those are the easiest points to find and easily id. Good luck, and just take your time.
Here is a site which will eventually be your best friend in this study. www.ashmore.com Good Luck Ben
Steve - Like many of the newer members, and quite a few of the members who have been around here for some time, it seems that they fail to look for things that are right in front of their eyes. I am talking about the Numismatic Resources section here on Coin Talk. For example, in the US Coins area there is a link for - Morgan Dollars - within that thread on Morgan dollars there is another link to the Variety & Errors thread which specifically discusses Morgan dollar - VAMS Give it a try, I think you'll be surprised just how much information you can find right here on Coin Talk
It's just like it says Frank - Numismatic Resources Have a question about a coin or looking for particular numismatic information ? This is a research area where you can probably find the answer. All anyone has to do is look
