1878 star VAM

jhd

Sorry for the bad pic. Got a new camera "Canon Power shot S3 IS" today and have lots to learn. The coin has been cleaned. I got it for $9.00! Dealer was happy that I paid for a cleaned coin. I was happy to get the VAM. I have not looked up the number yet. If you know please post. I will try to get a full pic of the coin with better light over the next few days.


Pic added.


Thanks John

Yale68

Looks like a vam 141

messydesk

117 or 141. Not bad! Need to see the 'o' in "God." If the top is broken, it's VAM 141, otherwise VAM 117. Both are about equally scarce.

speety

$9 for a morgan? VAM or not that's a great deal. And those pics aren't bad either (You should see mine ), nice job

RobJoyce1921dVAMguy

John do you really find the 141 and 117 equally rare? The Top 100 book says so but in my experience, I run across 2x VAM-141 vs 117 and the 117s are tougher in MS. Slabbing stats (shaky for the limited pop) run about the same.

<!--StartFragment -->PCGS VAM-117
53 2
55 0
58 3
60 0
61 0
62 1
63 2
Total: 13

PCGS VAM-141
58 1
60 0
61 1
62 6
63 10
64 5
65 1
Total:24

NGC VAM-117
VF 2
40 0
45 1
50 0
53 3
55 1
58 2
60 0
61 2
62 2
63 4
64 1
Total Graded: 19

NGC VAM-141
VF 1
40 0
45 1
50 0
53 0
55 0
58 1
60 1
61 7
62 9
63 16
64 11
65 2
Total Graded: 49

I'm still looking for a nice MS VAM-117!
Rob

Coxe

The 117 is much more difficult to locate than the 141. I have plenty of 141 examples (including an MS66 in for designation currently) but haven't gotten a 117 yet myself. Seen some circulated ones, still distinctly in the minority, but passed on them.

messydesk

Right. 117 is scarcer than 141 and 141 is usually BU. Stupid decongestant. 115 and 198 I've found to be close to each other in availability.

From the picture added to the first post (and wear on the coin), the subject coin looks like a 117.

Wolf359

I've been looking for a VAM-117 in MS for a couple years. Best I have is a PCGS AU58. My set has a VAM-141 in MS63, and I've passed
on better because I'm after the 117.

VAM-117 has a better reverse marker than the 'o' in God. The feathers next to the eagles right leg (viewer left) are polished away...but present on 141.

Coxe

Looks 141 to me. That o is broken. Didn't note the other PUP, Jack. That would make internet cherrypicking aa bit easier on the eyes.

wam98

I have a triple star with the o in God that looks a lot like this one. Couldn't tell if it was broken o or not. I had noticed the eagle's right wing polished away and after checking a couple 141s, I wasn't sure what I had.



.
I don't have a closeup of this attributed 141, but you can tell the wing is not overpolished like the one above.

Coxe

If the upper left of the o looks the same as the lower right, then it is a VAM-117. You don't need to overly discriminate the details as to if it is separated or not. I have gotten plenty of VAM-141 examples. I could split hairs on the detail but the fact on all of them is that the upper left is clearly not a simple reflection of the lower right. Both of the coin images here are of VAM-141.