VAMWorld 2.0

OK. Thanks for the suggestion!

PS: I'm deliberately posting this without mentioning subjects already in the "hopper." I don't want to discourage any ideas or questions. Also, if VAM specialists want me to try and locate information on the traditionally accepted explanations, please provide as much info as you can.

One of my current tasks is the successor book to From Mine to Mint . This continues the kind of process and mechanical approach to minting coins begun with the first volume. That is, the emphasis is on how equipment worked, how it was used, and the effects on coinage - including errors and defects. ...

Good illustration of how the upper die surface was cut to help guide a planchet to the center of the collar. In addition the reeded part of the collar was slightly wider at this top face than the bottom. So... there were two interesting aspects to collars: 1) they had a sloping guide cut into the to...

It would likely be helpful to new and some seasoned collectors if the terminology could be better explained in the background info sections. The section in FMTM describes how reeds were cut into collars. Also, some presses used circular openings into which collars with various opening sizes were ins...

RE: "A rotating collar die is noted as the cause of this overlapping."

Please explain what this means.

Go to From Mine to Mint to read how collar reeds were cut.

I would add that this is atypical, so calling it 'atypical die erosion' would likely be correct. This particular obverse apparently either wasn't or couldn't be properly hardened. It's a great story and it's reverse mate has a story of its own worth exploring. Good explanation. The photo shows turb...

"...as long as someone who suffers a loss is made whole." That's my concern. They might state they carry private insurance, but is that only while in possession or does it include transit, etc. What I'm curious about is do the TPGs have clear statements of responsibility and valuation of items recei...

Do PCGS, NGC and ANACS openly inform customers that they carry private insurance to cover the stated value of a shipment?

Thanks everyone!

Here's an LHC Super Collider:

If the reeding is otherwise normal (coin struck fully in collar) and there's additional reeding on the rim, it would be a collar clash, where the hammer die hit the collar die before striking this coin. In the "die profile," below, you're saying the peripheral face (rim) struck the upper surface of...

I'm kinda dense. Please explain how this is a "collar clash" and not a partial out-of-collar strike.
Thanks!

Here is the disposition of the first five Trade Dollars struck at the Philadelphia Mint July 11, 1873. #1 Secretary of Treasury Richardson #2-5 Charles Broadhead of Philadelphia (letter below) Hon. Charles Broadhead, Philadelphia October 13, 1873 Sir: I enclose herewith as requested by you and promi...

It's nice to locate original documents that confirm long-held ideas -- as well as the ones that blow holes in them.

PS: See From Mine to Mint for explanation of how a drawbench worked and why Snowden's explanation covers both thin and tapered coins.

The standard silver dollar presented several problems in 1853. First, it was the "standard" unit of money in silver metal and had been defined as such in law. Since the 1853 proposal affected only silver coins, keeping the dollar at its historical silver content meant that we could argue that our st...

Office of U. S. Assistant Treasurer New York July 1, 1873 Hon James Pollock, Superintendent of the Mint Sir: The enclosed half dollar piece was found in a bag of silver coins of the same denomination received from the Mint. You will notice that it is not of the usual thickness, and this depreciation...

The term "rim cud" is a bit of a misnomer that has been used for so long that it kinda stuck. A true cud is a rim to rim die break with uplifted fields that extend past the denticles into the field. A "rim cud" refers to rim die breaks. Many rim breaks are produced as a consequence of collar clashe...

Previous instructions, going back to pre-Civil War were that standard silver dollars were only produced on the order of silver depositors. They were tariffed at $1.04 to $1.08 in gold. (This was in part a result of 1853 reduction in smaller silver coin weight and legal tender status.) Collectors wer...

Paying for new 1878 dollars in gold was, initially, not an option.