Why does the VAM Top 100 have way more than 100 VAMs?

Zoins

When looking over the VAM Top 100 list, I noticed that some of the 100 slots have many more than a single VAM listed. For example, Slot 99 has 15 VAMs in it. Counting the rows in the following table, the first 100 VAMs gets you to just Slot 49, not Slot 100. The table seems to have a total of 218 rows for individual VAMs. Why is this the Top 100 list and not say the Top 218 list?

http://vamworld.com/wiki/Top_100_Morgan_VAMs

yosclimber

They are grouped on a common feature, so you only have to get one of the listed VAMs in each group to check off that group.

messydesk

@yosclimber said:
They are grouped on a common feature, so you only have to get one of the listed VAMs in each group to check off that group.

This is correct. The original list had way over 100 VAMs in it, including all of the then listed 00-O/CC varieties, all 79-S Rev. of 78 varieties, all 78-S Long Nocks. Many of the slots in the set feature one side and aren't excited about the other. 78-CC VAMs 6 and 18 are known for their shared doubled obverse die. When the list was first created, both VAMs were listed as qualifiying for the same slot. Over the past 23 years, the list has expanded when another die pair with the same "money side" of the coin was discovered (e.g., 85-S VAM 9, 91-CC VAM 7, 00 VAM 24, others) or when different die stages were listed for a single die pair already in the list (91-O VAM 1A becoming 1A1, 1A2, 1A3, and 1A4). The only addition unrelated to the original list was 1878 VAM 14.11. This replaced 1878 VAM 11, which was in the original list, but does not exist. The three Micro O counterfeits in the list (96-O VAM 4, 00-O VAM 5, and 02-O VAM 3) are still part of the list, but not part of TPG Top 100 registry sets.

ricko

Someday....(does that day ever come?) I must check my Morgans for VAM's....I am sure I have some...probably not of any major value, but out of all the Morgans I have, there must be a couple. Cheers, RickO

coinhack

@ricko said:
Someday....(does that day ever come?) I must check my Morgans for VAM's....I am sure I have some...probably not of any major value, but out of all the Morgans I have, there must be a couple. Cheers, RickO

Aren't all Morgan dollars some Vam number? I think that is the point. Every Vam is a different die for each year. So all of your Morgans match some Vam number or else you have discovered a new Vam. Whew. I think.

messydesk

Yes, all Morgans have a VAM number, as every VAM represents a discernibly unique die pair. Most of the over 5,000 VAMs are nothing to get excited about, which is why the Top 100 list was created in the first place. It focuses collectors on 100 varieties that are rare and/or interesting.