I have a couple of Morgans that I recently got, the dates are pretty common, but they seem pretty nice to me. the dates are 1885-O, 1886, and 1887. Anyway, I was checking to see if any of them were VAMs, and a few things on the 1885 and 1887 stuck out. I only own a few Morgans and consider myself pretty new to them and I wanted some second opinions. The 1885 seems like it might be a VAM-4, with a doubled 18. http://www.vamworld.com/1885-O+VAM-4 My photo makes the bag marks much more pronounce, but this is the best I could do for the obverse. Now on to the 1887, I was not able to find an associated VAM with it, but it seems like it has a few nice die cracks(?) through the tip of one wing and through the star between United and One. Sadly, there is a nice smudge in the field of this one. Note that the greenish spots at the bottom of the reverse are not actually there in hand, was just something going on with my camera. Just wanted to share some of my latest pickups and also get your opinions on the VAMs/cracks.
To start with all Morgan's or Most are VAM's. The name Originate as Van Allen and Morris the people who cataloged all known at their time Dies of Morgan. Others have contributed after they stopped but I cannot give you anymore of those absolutes. You are referencing the correct site for identification of these types. One thing you should be aware when attempting to attribute those types are the VAM number is Absolute if your coin do not match that Attribute (Definition) exactly it is a different VAM number .. There are hundreds go to the http://www.vamworld.com site follow your year and mint on that site and you will more than likely see a photo of your coin's die... ala the VAM No. Now you can start the quest for what is its worth.. but you need to find the VAM No. and Grade First
As I can see I can only give you an estimate of the Grades for the 1885, 1887 as MS62-64 but that is very rough based on what I can see ... which is far from complete
@Animosity Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis devised the cataloging and identification system for Morgan and Peace dollars. Mr. Mallis has been deceased for a while, and Mr. Van Allen continues to be the only authenticator for new varieties. Die cracks are very common and do not warrant attribution in and of themselves. You will have to sort through the VAMWorld listings, comparing your coin to them to find the correct one. If you run into trouble, perhaps one of our other members @messydesk can help you. Chris
Thanks Chris for the help .. I should have known better than mess with this computer so late last night after watching the Football Games
The 1885-O VAM 4 attribution seems correct. The 1887 I can't tell from the picture. I'd need to see the coin to attribute it.
tpsadler cpm9ball: Thanks for the information! Before this, I didn't realize exactly what a VAM was, or that there were so many! I also didn't know that die cracks are fairly common on Morgans. messydesk: Thanks for the confirmation on the 1885-O VAM as well!
130+ tons was needed to strike these cartwheels, so it is understandable that the dies would take a beating. Chris
@Dave Waterstraat, I think you were correct in the VAM 27A for the 1887, nice call! Out of curiosity, what did you see in the photos that pointed you in that direction?
