Opinions on VAMs
JakSunn
Posts: 23
I've been collecting coins for many years but haven't paid a lot of attention to VAM's. I remember back 5 to 6 yrs ago and it seemed like VAM's were really taking off, but lately I've not heard much at all about them. So I'm curious what other's opinions are on VAM's and their overall direction relative to the general coin market. Are VAM's and VAM collecting on the wane or are they still moving higher in popularity but just not getting a lot of attention in the coin media?
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Edited to add: Oh. and welcome to the forum!
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Your questions align well with those of some long-time silver dollar variety collectors, and others who have dipped their toe in the specialty, them left.
[My comments are from the perspective of one who has an extensive numismatic research background in historical documentation, and posted to the VAM world site for a short period. I also have some Morgan and Peace dollar varieties and was co-author (along with Barry Lovvorn) of the Whitman Guide Book of Peace Dollars (2008).]
Interest in Morgan and Peace dollar die varieties jumped with publication of books by Leroy VanAllen and George Mallis in the 1970s. Leroy continues to be the “guru” of the specialty and the final arbiter of varieties. Production of the VAMworld.com web site gave the specialty a huge boost by making available a basic resource of varieties and related information in convenient and easy to use form.
Over the last several years, friction has arisen among variety collectors about use of the site, ability to post messages, sharing of information and other problems centering on “who’s controlling what?” (Don’t be put off – this is common in nearly all organizations, except possibly “Lemmings International.”) Although most have played out behind the scenes, enough gets to the pubic site and message board that quite a few new comers become discouraged after a few visits. An outside irritant are commercial sellers who go to VAMworld’s message boards, post plaintive “Help Me!” messages simply to get variety identification for use in promoting their coins, then vanish.
Several other factors have, in my opinion, harmed the collecting of silver dollars by die variety. The most treacherous being the expanding quantity of sub-varieties, barely visible variety differences, overly optimistic assessments of commercial value, and a confused identification system incapable of handling thousands of die varieties.
The specialty seems to be growing slowly, with a handful of dedicated enthusiasts doing most of the “grunt work.” New comers will find a wealth of detailed information, lots of help from some incredible people, but also a “closed mind” approach to new ideas. There seems to be a lot of potential to increase the variety collecting base, but I feel it has to develop a new perspective and make itself more approachable to younger collectors.
(I suspect many of the VAMworld posters will disagree with everything noted above. Mine is not the only opinion, and others are probably equally useful to you.)
Just wish there was as comprehensive a site for other coins such as Washington's, Franklin's, etc. Don't get me wrong, there are very good sites for the other denominations but none with the volume of detail and images of individual varieties.
For several years, there has been a misconception that just because a coin is identified by VAM number, it is worth more money than one that isn't, when that is just plain not true. With the economy tanking and silver rising, coins that had been salable for premiums that shouldn't have been are now priced based on standard price guides or bullion. This may have taken a lot of hype out of the market, which is a good thing. Those coins that are recognized as being rare VAMs continue to do well, especially if certified by PCGS, although their prices are a little lower than a few years ago. Many of these are coins that have moved into the mainstream and can no longer be cherrypicked, and people that want them are willing to pay premiums, just as collectors of rare bust die marriages or rare big copper do. To me, that sounds like a healthy correction in the market.
One of the big draws for some collectors is discovering new die marriages. With the low-hanging fruit long since picked off the tree, as it were, people are looking at increasingly minute die features. Yours truly takes credit and/or blame for pointing out the first "scribbling scratches" variety to Leroy Van Allen (1921-D VAM 1BY) a few years ago, which touched off a boom of these varieties being reported, and even a guidebook being published. In many cases, this level of die study may seem silly, but in some cases, this level of attention to detail has inspired people to do an intensive study of one date to try and sort out and correct all the information accumulated over the past 45 years. This has led to attribution guides for all of 1878 (8TF, 7TF, 78-S, 78-CC), 1879-S Rev. of '78, 1902-O, and 1904-O, that are now considered the authoritative references to these dates with information that will enable people to attribute and collect them more easily, eventually determine which die pairs are rare and which are common, and also discover some interesting things about operations at the mint based on the trail of die marriages found. Intensive surveys of other dates (79-S, 85-O, 87-P) are also ongoing. Others have looked into die progressions, trying to put together a series of coins from one die pair with as many different stages as possible. Off the top of my head, the some big ones are the 1888-O VAM 1B (10 stages), 1921-D VAM 1B (6 stages + a die fill), 1921-S VAM 1B (9 stages), 1922 VAM 2C (9 stages). For the 1921-D VAM 1B and 1921-S VAM 1B, the silly scribbling scratches have added an identifiable die stage to their lists.
VAMWorld is a free repository of a huge amount of attribution information for Morgan and Peace dollars, and a free message board. The SSDC (Sociery of Silver Dollar Collectors) pays the fee to keep it running, but everything else is done by volunteers. The message board is like most hobby message boards. Every personality type and expertise level you have anywhere else, you have on VAMWorld. Are there occasional conflicts and bad behavior? Yup. Do some members think others are nuts? Probably.
I get into this because I find it interesting and fun, and have made a bunch of good friendships in the process. Making a ton of money buying and selling VAMs was never my goal, even though it's nice when it happens once in a while, so the market correction isn't a turn-off for me. I could go on and on, but this is enough for now. The bottom line is that this is a hobby. If you think it's interesting and fun, then it's for you. If you don't, it's not.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
There are 24 coins on the peace series so I picked the top 6 to fill out my set
21 VAM 3
23 VAM 2
25 VAM 5
34d VAM 3
34d VAM 4
35s 4ray
those are my choices your may differ