New purchase here, id like to start with a GTG and pick the best pics for me to combine for my records. Also any help with VAM ID would be awesome. Vamworld through me for a loop. I couldnt find any with the same die crack as this example.
Your welcome. This one took all of 5 seconds to vam. That crack looked like a possible retained cud or close to it so I Googled "1890p vam cud" and 15a was on top of the results. I've confirmed many vams this way through Google if there is a unique enough feature. Yours just had a feature unique enough for this method to point one in the right direction. It doesn't always work though but it can be a nice out of the box tool in the vam identification arsenal
Notice how it says "one of the two key rarities for 1890p with the other being 25a" Now, it's not a list vam but is an r6 i3. Which doesn't really mean much but the mention about the rarity for the year is nice. Check ebay and see if there is a premium for this one And as for grade I'd go with xf45. Maybe au50 since I see hints of luster but the total lack of breast feathers makes me go with xf45
@UnCommonCents You should be aware that very, very few VAM's are assigned on the basis of die cracks because they are so common. For this reason, you will rarely see them mentioned in the descriptions. Chris
That's an "interest level" assigned by Leroy Van Allen at the time he designates the VAM. It's only an estimate, of course, and the fullness of time has proven some VAMs both far rarer and far more common than his initial impression.
"The Book" is The Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan and Peace Dollars, Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis' definitive record of their work. Since the Fourth Edition and Mr. Mallis' passing, Leroy has only published updates on a yearly basis. As a guess, more than a third, maybe half, of known VAMs have been identified since the Fourth Edition was published. That said, the Encyclopedia is an invaluable reference for metadata regarding Morgan and Peace Dollars, and ought to be a part of any Morgan or Peace collector's library. Only at VAMworld will you find them all in one place.
