I need to upgrade my Morgan knowledge. Help please!
ksteelheader
Posts: 11,777 ✭
I posted pics of my MS65 1879S Morgan earlier today. I know nothing about Vams or repunched mint marks. What is the best way to learn more about these? Is the mint mark in the enclosed pic repunched? Does NGC have a designation review for Vams or possible upgrades? Any help is appreciated.....Thanks, Ken
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There's 40 vams for that 79's.
I would need a clearer pic of the mintmark to see which one it is.
Maybe someone else can help out.
Tom
"Sending download of Morgan knowledge..............NOW"
Is the mint mark in the enclosed pic repunched?
most likely yes. but can't tell for sure without a clearer pic
Like Trooper said, there are over 40 vams for that particular date---and probably 10 of them can be attributable by the mintmark.
anacs will attribute for $5, not sure if ngc has a similar service.
A working die used to mint a Morgan typically lasts only 100,000 to 150,000 coins. Some of these dies have subtle characteristics, like RPM or doubled die or significant die cracks or what have you. Each "unique die" that can be identified is given a designation. One for the obverse and one for the reverse. Each combination of a die pair is given a VAM number. Depending on the number of Morgan dollars minted, there could be 10~100 die pairs used per year per mint, so over the life of Morgan dollars, there are thousands of die pairs, and total of thousands of VAM numbers. Not all of them are all that interesting, and not all of them are all that rare.
NGC will only attribute VAM's that could be found with nice picture guides. Their policy in regards to variety attribution in general may be found here. The policy on VAM's may be found around page 60.
ANACS will do VAM number verification for only $1 more, and actually research the VAM number for you for $6 per coin.
Specifically:
There are no 1879s Morgans listed in the "top 100" VAM guide or the "Hot 50" guide that came later, aside from the set of 1879s Morgans with the flat breast reverse. What this means is that NGC will not attribute an 1879s 3rd reverse with a VAM number. ANACS will, but the 1879s 3rd Rev RPM isn't likely to bring more money on an open market because its relative rarity hasn't been confirmed through research. So IMO, it's not worth it to pay ANACS to do the variety research for you just to find the VAM number.
FWIW, including the flat breast second reverse and the rounded breast third reverse, the VAM number count is up to at least 52. I don't know if there's a 53 or beyond yet... There are also 1A, 1B, 7A, 16A, 34A, 34B, so altogether, at least 58 VAM numbers in 1879s. Of those 58, 22 are flat breast second reverse listings, and 16 are confirmed to exist.
I've scanned through some pictures, and just from the mint mark alone, that sort of looks like the mint mark for VAM 15....
HTH
Woe is you. I can see that you have been bitten by the MORGAN BUG. This is an incurable disease and can be very costly, but also very rewarding.
That sure looks like an RPM. I can see an S sitting southwest of the major S.