Can anyone nail down the Vam on this one? It's driving me crazy. I believe it to be a far date, an oval O, and it has several die breaks on the rev. running from the E in united around the top through the wing tips to the E in America. It also has a clash on the rev.between the left wing and leaves.
Paddy, forget about the die cracks. They're pretty common and usually don't affect the VAM. They're used more often for determining die state. The clash you mentioned is the "Cap Vee", and it is one of the common clashes that don't usually affect the VAM. If you see one of these clashes, the first thing you want to look for is a letter transfer, the most common of which is the inverted "n" from IGWT. It isn't always present, but it would appear along her neck about one-third of the way down. I'm guessing that you won't see the "n" because of the condition. You'll probably have to go through every "near date with an oval O" to find some other PUP that matches. Maybe John @messydesk can help. He's really good at it. Chris
It's probably a Normal Date. Note that the left-hand side of the base is about half way over the denticle. The left-hand side of the base for a far date is just above the slot between denticles. Chris
I already used graph lines on the date and its a normal date with an oval " O " which I also think its sitting far left too
Rick I am a cherry picker I think I know doubling when I see it. No Rick that's why I posted it, no doubling and I just could not figure out the vam. Morgan and Peace dollars are not my strong suit. Yes I have quite a few but never mess with them that much. Once and awhile I pull one or two out and play with them to see if I can nail the vam .
Although date location has been kind of a moving target over the years, this one would probably be described as "on the far side of Normal" rather than Far. For 1884-O, that means go look for overlapping reeding.
Rick, you're measuring from the wrong side of the "1". To begin, take the measurement from the point where the "Neck Vee" points to the denticles and measure to the right until you reach the left-hand base of the "1". In this case, it's 2-1/2 denticles. Chris
Sorry having troubles with the net tonight, the reverse didn't load. Any way from what I can see the date and mint mark match Vam 28. VamWorld shows a dash under the second 8 but it is ever so light. It looked like something on your coin in that spot but I can't make it out. EDIT: NOT THIS ONE
There are a lot of coins that sort of fit the VAM 5 description. The date on this one is too far to the left to fall into that category, though, so it would be considered normal. Mint mark position is pretty much centered (not far enough left to be listed as being set to the left), upright, and almost high, so it would probably be called VAM 1 unless something else interesting (a clashed letter or doubling -- ear perhaps?) could be found.
The dash was used to aid in the placement of the last two digits of the date when the Mint transitioned from 1879 to 1880-1885. The dash was placed just above the 10th slot between the denticles counting from the "Neck Vee". Sometimes the employee forgot to polish the dash out. Chris
