Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="jaceravone, post: 1990670, member: 9474"]VAM is the abbreviation of the two author's last names who did some of the initial research on Morgan and Peace dollar die marriages.  Van Allen and Mallis.  VAM numbers are assigned to each Morgan and Peace dollar based on the obverse dies and reverse dies used.  Therefore all Morgans and Peace dollars are VAM's.  Some VAMs are just worth more than others based on the type of variety, scarcity and desirability.  For example, the 1888O Hot Lips is a very desirable variety that is fairly scarce.  Lower grades are more common than higher grades.  There have only been a few of these VAMs certified as Mint State.  For example if Obv Die 1 was paired with Rev Die 1, this may be called VAM1 for a particular year.  If Obv Die 1 was paired with Rev Die 2, this may be called VAM2 for this particular year.  But this is oversimplified as these researchers don't know exactly what dies were used and when, but over years and years of research much of these mysteries have been put together like a jigsaw puzzle and VAM numbers have been assigned.  Some years saw many, many dies used and others only used a handful of dies.  But it gives you an idea on how VAM numbers are assigned and this is the point that I am trying to make.[/QUOTE]