PCGS attributes a small percentage of the known VAM's...

ponderit · December 13, 2009 4:22AM

is the list of attributable VAMs expanding or is it as encompassing as it will get?

blu62vette · December 13, 2009 4:25AM

They attribute the VAMs on a list and the 1878's. More than NGC less than ANACS

… · December 13, 2009 4:31AM

it generally expands whenever a new attribution guide is written

Wolf359 · December 13, 2009 4:44AM

<< <i>is the list of attributable VAMs expanding or is it as encompassing as it will get? >>

ANACS attributes everything, as does PCI and SEGS.

PCGS attributes several hundred VAMs, the important ones.

ponderit · December 13, 2009 6:43AM

I guess I could have asked the question a little clearer. I know PCGS currently has a list of VAMs that they will attribute. Is that list growing or is this current all they are ever going to attribute.

derryb · December 13, 2009 6:50AM

On the subject of VAM's, is there a realistic price guide on-line that provides Peace dollar VAM values?

coindeuce · December 13, 2009 7:17AM

It is my understanding that in addition to the TOP 100 Morgan, HOT 50 Morgan, and TOP 50 Peace Dollar set lists, PCGS will soon add the HIT LIST 40 Morgan set to their Variety Attribution service. It's all in the interest of generating revenue from Registry set Kool-Aid drinkers.

blu62vette · December 13, 2009 7:24AM

The hitlist is already being done.

The SSDC provides a VAM priceguide, free with membership.

RWB · December 13, 2009 8:34AM

Some idle thoughts:

There are thousands of die varieties of Morgan and Peace dollars. More pop up every day as new varieties are identified and old ones are minutely subdivided by enthusiasts. A relatively small number of clear varieties of broader interest are designated by the three main authentication services. Sometimes these correlate with a specific hobby publication – “Top 50,” etc. – and sometimes they are “free-standing” or not actually recognized by VAM collectors as varieties. A company would, in my opinion, have great difficulty trying to keep up with the churn of VAMs, unless they somehow limited the number of varieties they attribute. (There are more varieties than represented by the VanAllen-Mallis lists. That’s not a negative – it’s just the way it is.)

Consistency of attribution is also a problem, so even if the slab says the coin is “1878-S VAM 214-1/3” it might actually be “1878-S VAM 68Ab.”

VAMing, as enthusiasts call it, can be fun, educational, a bridge to friendships and occasionally profitable. But it also can be limiting due to complexity, variety subdivision, misunderstanding of how some are created, and the massive quantity of known varieties. A lot of specialists pick one or two dates/mints or variety types (clashed dies, recut dates, overlapped reeding, etc.) as a means of focusing their energies.

Wolf359 · December 13, 2009 1:47PM

<< <i>I guess I could have asked the question a little clearer. I know PCGS currently has a list of VAMs that they will attribute. Is that list growing or is this current all they are ever going to attribute. >>

There's no way for us to guess what PCGS will do in the future.

PCGS attributes a small percentage of the known VAM's...

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