1899 VAM-1 "may not exist"

[ChrisPaulis]

The description of the VAM-1 says, "Normal die may not exist." I have a coin with two open 9's. Please help me understand what the "may not exist" really means.

[MarkyB]

I think someone, maybe Weth, is saying that VAM 1 is a polished VAM 2 or 2A. If you don't have the scratches in the lower left wing, you may indeed have a VAM 1.

[weth]

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) and one proof die (VAM 1A).

LVA was reluctant to accept that there might not be a "normal" VAM 1 die, but agreed to co-list VAM 2A as VAM 1 Die 1. But I'm not sure your coin is a VAM 2A / VAM 1 Die 1, it looks more like a VAM 5 from what you've posted.

Again, a photo of RTY would very much clarify things for me...

[Vam-mysterio]

The description of the VAM-1 says, "Normal die may not exist." I have a coin with two open 9's. Please help me understand what the "may not exist" really means.

Vam 1 is a very generic listing and should be more for die classification rather than actual die pair.
VAM 1 describes a coin with normal dies. This may refer to multiple die pairs, or may not exist at all.
Note:this applies to certain dates only

[weth]

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" features and therefore were VAM 1; I created my own sub-nomenclature to try to separate and differentiate these.

Recall that 1899P was a very low mintage year, and so there were very few dies actually used.

[ChrisPaulis]

@weth, sorry for the delay. Here is a photo of the RTY

[colwillys]

check VAM 6A some have rim cud .

[Albannach]

The description of the VAM-1 says, "Normal die may not exist." I have a coin with two open 9's. Please help me understand what the "may not exist" really means.

Vam 1 is a very generic listing and should be more for die classification rather than actual die pair.
VAM 1 describes a coin with normal dies. This may refer to multiple die pairs, or may not exist at all.

GM would likely disagree…

[weth]

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