I recently bought a 1921D dollar VAM 6A and a 1921D dollar VAM 1W2 both in MS65. The VAM 1W2 appears to be a late die state. I don't know yet if the VAM 6A is a late die state since I have not received the coin yet but going by the picture it seems to be at least a late-mid die state. I paid $319.95 for the VAM 6A and $225.00 for the VAM 1W2. I am having trouble finding any information on the coins in MS65. I have tried looking at past sales on Ebay and looking at VAMWorld and looking in general on the Internet. Would anyone have an idea of how common or rare are these coins in MS65? VAMWorld says there are two VAM 1W2's in MS65 but the stats are from earlier last year and may be outdated. The thought has also occurred to me that perhaps there is not as much interest in the coins since I was the only one who bid on the VAM 1W2. Below are the pictures. Thanks!
Maybe I'm getting too old and senile, but if that 21-D in the PCGS slab is MS65, then I'm a monkey's uncle. I'm guessing that you overpaid for both of them, but who am I to say. I sold my entire collection of Morgan dollars several years ago. Perhaps John aka @messydesk will chime in. He is the one I would ask. Chris
Im guessing the 6a is the more desirable of the pair. It looks like that is a top pop with only 2 examples known in MS. Thats just a guess @SuperDave @Dave Waterstraat
VAM 1W2 is probably the more desirable of the two, but neither is really much of a premium coin. In the SSDC registry, VAM 6A has a population of 1 in 65, while VAM 1W2 has a population of 2.
I would think the VAM premium would be hit or miss at best with only a registry set collector willing to pay up a little for a top pop tie. As far as the grades, I believe 21's are graded on a different scale than the rest of the series much like the GSA Carson City Morgans. The bags seem to have been tossed around a bit more.
It's not so much that 21s are graded on a different scale as you can't look at a 21 the same way you look at the rest of the series. 1921 has a lower relief, less attractive rendition of the design that doesn't strike up or accumulate marks the same way that an 80-S does, for example. A 21-S in 65 will almost never knock one's socks off the way an 80-S in 65 does. If you find one that does, buy it.
I got the VAM1W2 since the price of the coin is low to begin with and 1921D in MS65 at its lowest price is selling for at least $200 so I feel that even if the VAM is adding little or no value to the coin I am still not overpaying for the coin. As for the VAM 6A I feel comfortable buying it since in VAMWorld it has three red stars and the stretched star to me is rather interesting. I do not have a lot of confidence in the population numbers from VAMWorld since I am finding VAMs that are not attributed. I am hoping that when I receive the coin in the mail it is the late die state where there are die chips in the date.
How do you get the population of 1 for the VAM6A? When I check the population in VAMWorld I only see zeros.
The populations on VAMWorld aren't maintained. I was looking at the SSDC registry, which supplies population reports as people register their coins.
If the VAM 6A coin turns out to be a late die state where there are chips in the date will this significantly increase the coin's worth or desirability or will it add little to nothing?
I don't disbelieve what you are telling me but I am having a hard time understanding why the coin would not carry any additional value since this particular VAM is so rare in MS65 and VAMWorld gives it 3 out of 5 red stars. Even if there are a few uncertified or unaccounted floating around out there I would think there would still be some collector demand for the coin.
The demand for that variety in 65 is no greater than the demand for a generic one in high grade. The red stars came from a 2003 book on 1921-D die breaks. While the different number of stars wasn't defined explicitly, 3 stars is a middle-of-the-road die break.
So in your opinion are VAMs with an interest of a 3 or less usually not worth paying a premium? A couple years ago I bought a 1921d VAM 1b1 having 4 red stars in VAMWorld which has an interest of 3 in the fourth die state for the die break above the R of AMERICA in MS65 for $425 which I thought was a good price. The coin itself without the VAM being attractive is probably worth in the 300's. Just recently I bought a 1921 VAM3X in MS63 for $60. It is not as attractive looking but I thought the die breaks on the front and back along with the small cud forming on the front were rather interesting. Is there a lot of demand for these coins or did I probably pay too much? If I can't find any record of a particular VAM being sold in VAMWorld or Heritage Auctions or any other auction is that a pretty good indicator that there is not a lot of demand for that particular VAM?
I found a list of prices published by SSDC by VAMWorld back in the early 2000's which list's VAM 6A for $400 in MS65. Is this an inaccurate price?
It's and old price. It may have been accurate at the time, and it may not have been. If none were known in 65 at the time, it could have only been an estimate.
Like CPM9ball I do not agree with the grade as assigned as there is too much going on with the cheek, but it is what it is. As far as being rare for VAM, probably not anything special if is not listed in the HOT 50 or the Top 100. As for the values, what you payed for them looks ok.
