VAMWorld 2.0

So, this is an interesting coin; the 1878 SF mint did not usually turn loose into circulation dollars with noteworthy clash marks. This is the otherwise very common V8 die 1. Note that some die 1 and all die 2 (when rusted became 8A) have a big chip at the E of UNITED. This does not, but I’d bet the...

alefzero wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 05, 2022 1:17 am

Would be a fun candidate to examine with x-ray diffractometry to see if some details remain subsurface in the lattice deformation. Otherwise, nic that date.

A new tool to Vam-it!

I am leaning to "no" on the obverse neck (hair vee is clear) but added a few photos for the collective here.

Also, nostril didn’t look overpolished in your photos, but should be…

Vam killed too???🤬

I agree with Lew; totally different; I pulled my specimen last time there was a question about this die variety!

Owner should send it to VSS for attribution

Photo OP needed so 80 and 80B pages can be properly updated. Will put on the to-do list…

tbconcrete wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:38 am

Never realized just how tough this one is. Good eye, Lew. Thanks for sharing.

Tough is an understatement …only came across two impaired low grade examples in several years of looking thru 78-s dollars…

If you consider the SSDC registry VAM 221B is downright scarce, if not rare. The neat part of this die marriage are the 4 distinct states, EDS, which is listed separately, no clash, 1-clash, and 2-clash. I have all 4 in my set, but have had to settle on high grade AU die states 3 & 4 for a long time...

Polish lines aren’t present on EDS coins either; yes very 2-sided PL too. I’ll bet the pop in the registries are way wrong too; but hey generally the TPGs just know VAM 80 and don’t know suffixes exist. Also, many collectors will take a holder attribution at face value and never look under the hood ...

4th star looks like point is broken; intact on 111.

Tough coin in any grade; nice find. I just looked at a raw one on hand and agree with three!

Yes good luck finding a no-crack; no polish 80; Uber rare IMO; problem is it’s easy to find a VAM 80 attribution on a holder. SO most 80s are really 80Bs; and they are really common and often PL. The sequence goes 80-80B-80A; LDS 80As with blobs of metal at T of UNITED are tough to come by but yes a...

Good read; I see the letter was from 1873; guess the OE was overlooked in 1879, hence the example I have