I picked this up at an estate sale for $40 in a silver bezel. Something caught my eye on the date and I want to get y'alls opinion.
Okay... what exactly about the date caught your eye? It's usually best to clarify instead of leaving the reader to assume, and simply because we often get rather out-there questions. That said.... http://www.vamworld.com/
The date appears to be normal to me, except maybe dinged a little bit. https://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/5919/dollars/morgan/1880-O/all-varieties/
I appreciate the replies, and will be more specific in the future. What caught my eye was the raised surface in the upper loop of the last 8 in 1880. It looks to be an impression of some sort. The vam website looks helpful, great lead thank you.
That's what I assumed you meant, and is the biggest reason for the posted link. There are folks here who can be more helpful and may address the question directly, but if you'd genuinely like to learn I respectfully suggest spending a little time on the linked site first. While there is no right or wrong and all is up to you, you'll learn much more by trying to answer this yourself than by someone doing it for you. Take a look and if you've any trouble, simply let us know.
Thank you for your suggestion. I am fairly new to coins, and the research aspect is adding fun to the hunt. I can see myself spending a lot of time on this sort of thing in the future. It looks like a vam-5 1880/79-O. Apparently the mint had a surplus of 1879 morgans that they restamped in 1880. Of course grading would be needed to officially confirm this. Thanks again for the link!
Looks like the 8 was hit with a hammer when they hammered the holding claws of the bezel which you can see from the marks on the rim just below it.
"Grading"? No... there are other options (if indeed the stated variety and something you wanted to do).
I'm on the fence with this...the distinct marks are all there for the vam-5. Idk, I'll post the link to the identification site and post close up photos. Thoughts? http://www.vamworld.com/1880-O+VAM-5
I quickly compared your earlier photos after my last post, and everything seemed to match to me although such comparisons are better done on a computer than an iPhone. Kudos for taking the time to do this on your own, and I say this with absolute sincerity. Perhaps the gentleman tagged below will stop in. While there are a number of members here quite good with these, his confirmation would carry the most weight imo. @messydesk
What can I say...your suggestion inspired me! I had no idea coins could be so much fun. Looking forward to Mr./Mrs. Messydesk's take on it.
Yes, 80/79 VAM 5. A Top 100 VAM. Nice find! The Morgan series is full of fun stuff like this. Compared with other series, there's a fairly low barrier to entry when it comes to looking at a lot of coins and buying for your collection. I was at a talk today at CSNS about Seated Dollar varieties, and while there are a bunch of doubled dies, repunched dates, misplaced dates, etc., they are orders of magnitude harder to find than Morgans, and the cost is far higher.
Top 100 VAM club! What a treat. I just picked up a new hobby. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
