I am new to the coin community. Can someone please help me figure out what this 1891 S Morgan Silver Dollar would be worth. There are a few small carbon spots on the reverse and I was wondering if this would affect the grade and the value. Also I would like to ask if this is a 1891 S Morgan Dollar VAM-5 Far Date, and if this would add or detract grade or value from the coin? All comments on this coin will be appreciated to learn more of the coin world. Thanks very much.
I don't know much about VAMs but I know a good looking coin when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now. I would say you wouldn't have any trouble getting $50.00 for this coin, but others will have more accurate opinions on the value and also about the VAM. Cointrackers.com, which is a handy site for silver values, gives this coin in "average" condition a value of $41.00 and in MS+ condition, a value of $1100.00. These are only estimates by Cointrackers.com. Though the coin has some nicks and marks here and there, I like the overall detail that's visible.
The coin looks to me to be in the AU (50-58) spectrum. Note the light wear over Liberty's ear, which makes this an About Uncirculated coin, just shy of Mint State. It might have been dipped (lightly cleaned), but may be market-acceptable in that regard. Doesn't look too bad to me, though the luster appears somewhat subdued in the photos. I'd say it is a decent example (not fantastic, but certainly not bad either), and I would call it AU55, personally. Here are the Numismedia prices. In AU55, it lists for $44 (retail). As to "carbon spots", I see only the one fleck by the O in ONE, and I don't think it is that egregious. You could try working at it with a wooden toothpick or a hardened rose thorn, which shouldn't scratch the coin if you're careful. I am not specialized enough to give you VAM information- die variety minutiae is not my thing.
Your pictures are no where near close enough to determine if it's a VAM or not and I don't think they can really be determined without a microscope and to hunt out the die markers. Here is a link to VAM World 2.0 for VAM 5 and the rest that are identifiable. you will need to compare the locations and die markers and if it all fits. there's 33 VAMs for the 1891S Maybe it's not VAM 5 but it could be one of the others, a lot of it is die scratches or gouges that make a die pair identifiable and these marks are usually in the devices and hard to really detect without high magnification. http://ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wiki/1891-S_VAMs
