VAMWorld 2.0

You have an O mint?

The telegram saying how many dies were condemned doesn't really say how many were used through 4/20. Many could have been deemed useless before being put in a press. We do know that one that was used and condemned was the VAM 60 obverse. We also know that the VAM 57 and 26 used the same reverse obve...

... Further the word "Specimen" is undefined and has no meaning. This is a recurring problem exacerbated by the fact that TPGs want a two letter abbreviation to put in front of the numeric grade to tell us all about the coin. Fortunately, the word "special" also starts with "SP," and that comes in ...

The line bordering the denticles is simply a remnant of the die preparation and nothing special. A full picture of the obverse and reverse would help in attribution.

My world submission just went to grading this week after over 2 months in "received." Thinking I'm not getting grades before the June 30 registry deadline.

Reeds from another coin.

Yeah, that's a nasty one.

vampicker wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:37 pm

Wow, think you're right. Looks a little different in a higher grade. But, there's enough there to convince me it's a match. Thanks!

The scratches in the upper tail feathers don't look like a match from here, but you have the coin.

Remember that it takes many hubbings to completely sink the design into the dies. Given the relief contour of the stars (wider at the base than the high points), a first hubbing from a Trade Dollar hub would give smaller stars, which would grow over the course of the rest of the hubbings. Class I, I...

No need to delete. There's no expectation here that people read other forums for answers to questions like this. Also, the reference to certified mail is incorrect. That offers no protection other than proof of mailing and acceptance by the recipient.

This topic covered quite extensively on the PCGS forum. It seems coin related claims will not be honored unless they are sent certified mail. About 6 months ago, someone posted the USPS paragraph outlining the policy but I can't find it at the moment. Collectible coins are covered by USPS insurance...

Ignore R numbers. They were all estimates at the time of discovery of their respective varieties and more often than not are not terribly accurate. Moreover, they are not a reliable indicator of value. As of last December new varieties do not have R numbers.

The last update to the VAM book was 1991. The number of varieties added and removed from the book in the last 30 years is more than what was in the book then. It's best to follow up with anything to match to the VAM book with a look in VAMWorld to see if anything has changed.

lewisr2 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 20, 2022 6:24 pm

Was a list made available of the “lost” coins?

There was a list, but I don't know how available it is/was. There's a remote chance that it was posted to the old VAMWorld, and that I might be able to recover it from there.

And with a few clicks and keystrokes, 1AO is eliminated.

Yup. VAM 1P. I see there's a VAM 1P1, 2, and 3 listed, too, and no real feeling for what the real die progression is among them. Obviously, with no die cracks, this should be VAM 1P1, and VAMs 1P2 and 1P3 would have to be sorted out.

No bears on my recent vacation.

Given that hubs did break, such as the 'r' shown above, it's entirely possible that the "isthmus" of this s deteriorated on the hub over time, as it starts out very narrow. Nevertheless, it isn't a listable feature and shouldn't be used to guide attribution. VAM 17 looks correct.

Couldn’t be an inside job? Well, let's see. It's a corrupt government with regions of the country controlled by drug cartels, which probably also exercise a lot of influence over ports. If the longshoremen in season 2 of The Wire were as corrupt as they were despite union pay and benefits (OK, fict...

A collector who bought this major rarity this year just posted a long thread about it on PCGS's forum. A few of us have seen the coin in person, and it's definitely special.

Link to PCGS Forum