1902-O VAM?

ndgoflo

Hi all, I lurk here quite often, but rarely post. Too busy learning and nothing relevant to add to the knowledge already posted. But I do have question that I think may be answered here. I have a 1902-O Morgan with a nice die crack on the reverse. I don't have access to a VAM book, and all the searching on the web has yielded me nothing. I will try to post a pic, but here is a description in case it doesn't work.

On the reverse, the crack runs from the D in UNITED, through the left wing tip, under the ST in STATES, and ends in the A of STATES.

Any help at all is appreciated.

wjd283

I'm by no means an authority on VAMs,but I have learned that a lot of Morgans have die cracks that are not considered to be VAMs.I have a few myself.

wjd283

Pretty nice crack though.
The ones I have go around the coin where the letters are.

ndgoflo

I'm not sure that it is a VAM or not. I just wanted to be sure before I sold it as a plain old Morgan.

wjd283

I checked Vamlink and the only 02-O in the top 100 is a micro O variety.Still does'nt mean it's not a VAM though.





<< <i>"Micro O" mintmark. Usually found only in very low grades. Unknown in BU. Put these away for the new millenium! >>

ndgoflo

That's about all I could find too, an ebay search came up with a couple others, but nothing like mine.

jdsinva

As previously stated, cracks, like the one on your coin, are found quite frequently on Morgan dollars. It's only when a crack turns into a full-fledged die break that it will generate interest. Other features of your coin, however, may help identify which VAM your dollar is. Don't necessarily think of VAMs as errors, think of them as die varieties. A favorite saying of mine is an error is a variety but a variety is not necessarily an error. Happy hunting!

Jeff

ndgoflo

Thanks for clearing things up for me. I really didn't think it was anything to get all hot and bothered about. I was just taking pictures for this weeks auctions and noticed the crack. Knowing that VAM collecting is fairly popular but not knowing anything about them, I just wanted to make sure I didn't have a "variety" that could bring a premium over a common coin.

Thanks again for all of the help (quite quickly I might add). I think this is one of the easier to use forums when it comes to posting pics. I may post more often now.

jdsinva

Posts some pics of the date, mint mark and anything else that might be unusual. That would go a long way to help identifying the VAM it is.

Jeff

ndgoflo

Here's some more pics. I can't attach pics of the entire coin becuase of size limitations and I don't know how to "shrink" 'em up. If there is any other areas that anyone would need to see to help identify it as a possible variety just let me know.

Thanks again.

nesvt

It looks like a near date (to the left).... and MAYBE the mint mark is shifted left. Too many VAMs with a near date for 1902-O. The only one I see with a shifted left mint mark is the VAM-42, but that's a blind shot in the dark without better pictures.