Is this a Pop 1 Morgan? Well...

techeff

... considering the VAM. It's a VAM-203 (short leaf). It looks like NGC has graded a few of these in 64, but none in 65. It don't believe PCGS keeps track of the VAMs? I looked at all the 65s sold at Heritage and none were of this variety. Just curious as to how rare this coin would be considered? Thanks!!

DennisH

My assessment is VAM 203 is a "tweener' in terms of rarity... not real hard, not real common. I'd rate it a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1-10.

The thing to keep in mind, however, is the 1878 R79 is a scarce coin to begin with, and 65s are legitimately rare. As a result, the value of the coin is already high to begin with so trying to pin down the amount of added value for the variety aspect is not easy at all.

In my opinion, this particular coin is an example of grade rarity. I'd much rather have an MS64 or 63 example and save a TON of money... even if I had to pay a large percentage premium for the variety aspect.

Wolf359

I've passed on several in 63 and under holders...the variety is "available". But I've never seen one in MS65 before, so that's quite a catch.

On Reverse of 79 coins, the VAM-220 Tripled "R" and VAM-223 washed out "L", exist in mint state but I've never come across one unattributed. They're much tougher I think.

techeff

Thanks for your input, Dennis and Wolf. I paid 63/64 money for this one and got real lucky.