VAMWorld 2.0

People can pursue it differently, but typically a die study is for a particular year and mintmark. In such a pursuit, one tries to find not only examples of each die pair, but also to understand how each evolved, from early die state (with fine polishing lines and clear doubling) to late die state (...

Sometimes seeing an old discovery coin changes how you perceive a die pair, or gives new insight. I remember when I was doing my 83P die study, it was already well documented what an 83P VAM 1A was; all ANACS and VSS attributed examples were the same. In the course of dialog with LVA, I sent in some...

It has been previously postulated that VAM 3FW is the same as VAM 81. Recently, VAM 81/81A were retired, as these listings were folded into VAM 3BQ, now as VAM 3BQ1 and 3BQ2. These photos Dennis posted do appear, to me, to match that of VAM 3BQ1. It is posted on the 1921P page that VAM 3FW needs to ...

Looks like a nice example of VAM 1AQ3 (previously also listed as VAM 1G)

There's also over a dozen 1878-CC VAM 4 examples. A peculiar cache of coins there, Tahoe!

Hopefully my 1878CC VAM 24A PCGS XF40 with a VSS sticker will show up soon for sale on GC (they've had it for well over a month and assigned it a lot number but not yet an auction date, will edit this post when listed) EDIT: Finally posted. Lot ends 9/3. Low starting bid https://www.greatcollections...

JB agreed to two more reductions in the 21P set:

VAM 1L is retired, as it is redundant with VAM 129
VAM 98 is retired, as it is redundant with VAM 88

Also, Dennis and I are in agreement that VAM 124 and VAM 112 share a reverse die (124 first, then 112/112A)

colwillys wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 22, 2023 3:02 pm

check VAM 6A some have rim cud .

Yeah, that's a VAM 6 and if there's cribble by the DO of DOLLAR then it's a VAM 6A

VAM 1 describes a coin with normal dies. This may refer to multiple die pairs, or may not exist at all. Precisely. It depends on the year and mintmark. For 78P, VAM 1 means a specific thing - there is no "normal die". For 83P, LVA found that multiple examples I showed him did not have any "listable...

You're posting photos of areas of the 99P that I rarely look at, so it's odd to me how little information I get even from the date photo. I think you have a VAM 5, and if you post a photo of the RTY of LIBERTY I can tell you for sure. There are only three known working dies for 1899P (VAMs 2, 5, 6) ...

ChrisPaulis wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 17, 2023 2:42 am

@weth could you elaborate and share evidence?

Well, I'm looking at my VSS-attributed VAM 1BD example and thinking that your photos don't match it, and also looking at my VSS-attributed VAM 43 example and finding that they agree.

So if I'm wrong, I blame messydesk.

Regarding the last photo you posted, don't pay too much attention to that formation. That array of dots over the N was in one of the D1 reverse master dies, so it is seen in several working dies. Not unique to one VAM.

Nice photos, but I think this is a VAM 43 not VAM 1BD.

Thanks for that feedback, Roger! Because VAM 1BB was a late die state listing, there was always the possibility of a subsequent earlier die state listing, which would have split it into VAM 1BB1 and your 1BB2. But because the earlier die state shows doubling not seen in the initial listing, I believ...

The late Metalencephalon / Nate started an 85-O die study, and then I picked it up just to finish what he had started. So when I say that I don't recognize it, I mean that I can't match either the obverse or the reverse to any of those currently listed. I would suggest sending it to JB/VSS or JR/ANA...

I don't recognize either the obverse or the reverse at all.

Whoa, that's awesome! Thanks for doing that! That takes care of two D2 that I had been meaning to document at some point (3CV and 3HF) and leaves two that I or someone should map cause I keep seeing 'em (3BB and 3GU).

I just edited the first post to be a summary, and will edit further if there might be more changes.

It certainly makes sense to revise VAM descriptions to note additional die features which may have been missed in the initial listing. Sometimes LVA was hesitant to note doubling if there was also machine doubling on the example examined, or if the features were obscured by wear or toning. I was goi...

It appears to be a moderately late die state 21P VAM 3FL to me...