Back in the day

[chgolaw1]

Back in the day when VW was in it's infancy, I couldn't wait to get home and go online till the wee hours of the morning. That's how interesting and fun this site used to be. Little by little the original creators left one by one either from passing on or just getting completely bored. Some came back and changed their names. some stayed and toughed out. It seems that topics don't seem as interesting as they used to be. I guess I am getting bored again. I wished it were different.

[RogerB]

Understood. During a specialty's infancy discoveries follow one another quickly, and are invariably the more eye-catching varieties. In VAM varieties there was also the advantage of a pre-formed structure and guidance from the "founders," and VAMers became part of the Great Link. After some years, the discoveries became increasingly obscure, and varieties split into sub- then sub-sub-varieties that attracted the interest of a dwindling number of collectors. New collectors might be thrilled to find a "new to them" clear variety, but then when posting they learn it's "a well known variety" and advanced collectors appear to show little interest, or engage the new person.

Nothing will bring back the original excitement of discovery of coins, but members can decide to expand the "how" and "why" of varieties (and the basic coins) by accessing a growing body of factual historical information.

[Jodemyer]

I bet it was awesome being here and being part of all the discoveries and constant supply of new varieties/vams. I wish I could have been part of it years ago but I was too busy working the road all the time. Now in my mid 50's I'm just getting a good start learning. I get excited about every new vam I learn about and spend hours vamming Morgans and Peace dollars on Ebay for fun. Wife thinks I'm crazy but she's used to it now. So to me it's very exciting but old news to most here as they are already discovered and not really talked about. I truly appreciate all the work the older members have done and continue to do so new people interested in the hobby such as myself can learn from. I enjoy the show and tell from peoples collections and would add anything I could if I had anything of interest to share. Maybe one day I will snag something new and exciting to all! Always looking!

[Eschaton]

Dom’s right. The boards used to be so active that the entire first page of posts were all active threads. And to be fair, there was drama. eBay sellers were hated by some. It was at times sellers vs purists. It helped tank the prices. Some loved it. Many lost a lot of money. The hobby (VAMs) has actually shrunk when coins as a whole and silver dollars in particular have been doing very well. More people know what VAMs are, but most don’t care. Which I guess is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it.

There was corruption bank then too. There was unethical stuff going on by those in leadership in the VAM community - even a significant figure at one of the biggest TPG’s’s was involved. People turned a blind eye. The greatest evil was apparently the little fish, the dirty eBay sellers, who were only in it for the money in the eyes of some.

More than a couple of ppl were also chased off by the purists. In particular many of the younger guys. I was one of them. I left for years. Some of the purists are still here and still wish I was gone and mildly troll, posting somewhat antagonistically when I participate. It’s part of life I suppose. It’s water under the bridge to me.

I’ve moved on. VAMs are an afterthought to me now. They are neat. Haven’t sent in discovery pieces in years. I’ve watched many of them get discovered by others. Didn’t bother me in the least. No longer do I buy or sell them in any meaningful wat. And it turned out for the best. Broadened my numismatic horizons. Rose to the top of the industry. Then moved on from that. Once you see how the sausage is made… Well, you know.

And I’m pretty sure the hobby is where it will remain until the culture changes in the VAM community. And I don’t think it will. It is what it is. But to be clear, they were many awesome mentors, and friends who did their best to try to make the community friendlier. Most of them are gone now. Again, is what it is.

All I can say is it is what we make it. If we want it to be more active, save the snide remarks. Try not to shoot people down so hard. Give advice instead of criticisms. Or don’t. “Us four, no more”. /shrugs.
No sweat off my back, I have no hard feelings, some people have crappy lives, or are unhappy at home, or hate their jobs, or whatever. Some people are just angry. Others are just contrarians. They thrive on the Internet, and particularly in forums. And they know how to brown nose to the people who could chase them off, or they make financial contributions to those who have a say in things, or whatever.

I stick around, but I definitely see what the OP sees. It’s true. It’s a shadow of his former self. Most of the people whose posts i most the enjoyed left long ago left and never looked back. I miss them. But it’s the nature of the beast. Maybe eventually some of the contrarians and wet blankets will be gone and things will improve. Maybe not.

Either way, VAMs are still a great hobby. And van world is still a useful tool with the generous contributions of time and service for mini, who could easily spend their time with their families, or making money instead. So thank you to those who contribute in a meaningful way in a way that encourages rather than discourage his interest in the hobby.

[Tekkie1]

Well said Dom.
I totally agree.

[morganman]

I am a original old timer here who has seen all since VW1 started
I had been doing my beloved Morgans since 1964 & amassed a huge
collection of raw bulk morgans purchased over many yrs from estates
and the like. Also began cherry picking high grade TPG examples incl
PL/DMPL beauties in mass amounts, from money made flipping houses
and property deelopment.

Many great members then and a few scoundrels/crooks along way
made vams quite valuable and fun collecting/buying/selling etc
Its so true that VW has lost its shiny days as to many vams were
discovered and were back to most being common with no premiums
In fact un attrib common morgans bring better money withot Vam #
designated on holder, as buyers like to look for vams themselves

Both lengthy above comments from 2 members here couldnt be more
true, and i applaud their straight forward truths, which hurt feelings of
some at first, but reality is honest and here we are

I am enjoying selling my coins through Heritage and am amazed about
prices received from both outright sales and consignments. Happy in
Oregon,. LOL

[chgolaw1]

Thanks to all for their input. It's been a long time since I have seen such lengthy responses. It's kind of refreshing to see that there are others have who the same sentiments.

[impairedsquirrel]

I think it's a lot of things Dom. It seems like when I found VW there were a WHOLE LOT of "I'm gonna get rich finding VAMs!" types coming into the hobby and, yes, some of them were "chased off", but, honestly, I think most of them just realized that VAMs aren't the other end of the rainbow. In other words, they would have left anyway and, if there really were a pot-o-gold hidden here, they'd still be around. Let's keep in mind that there were also MANY "purists" that were "chased away" as well. On that front, I honestly believe that most of us are actually in the middle somewhere, liking the hunt for both educational AND the occasional profitable aspects of VAMs.
There are LOTS of other things I miss about the "old days". The single biggest is WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO POSTING CHERRYPICKS?!?! That was one of the biggest draws for me to be here... seeing other people's finds served as motivation. Did those posts disappear because folks think they seemed to saturate the pops and crash the "market"? Or are folks really, honestly just not finding stuff anymore??

[Albannach]

What about...

il_fullxfull.1529874052_1xc2.jpg (31.89 KiB) Viewed 778 times

[chgolaw1]

Yes Rob I miss the cherrypicks as well !!

[Eschaton]

It seems like when I found VW there were a WHOLE LOT of "I'm gonna get rich finding VAMs!" types coming into the hobby and, yes, some of them were "chased off", but, honestly, I think most of them just realized that VAMs aren't the other end of the rainbow. In other words, they would have left anyway and, if there really were a pot-o-gold hidden here, they'd still be around.

Hahaha. No. It wasn’t just people who were trying to get rich they were chased off. I don’t really know of any of those, but sure, let’s say that happened. It didn’t, but let’s just go along. It was a lot of young people. Look around. That’s where we are now. Dentures and diapers. Let’s kill the hobby. Cheers.

[crabscrape]

Nice topic! I think alot of people knew what went on.

[UNCLE BINGO]

Ya know I was going to let this thread die . Its too bad some folks had a bad experience back in the day . This would not be the only INTERNET forum that had a " heyday" , back then . Its also not the only one that had humans disagree and get ganged up on / run off . etc , for whatever reason . I know of another culprit that has a big negative effect on these chat rooms and that is when the platform changes , much like the switch from VW1 to VW2 . Ive seen it first an EZ board , then a yuku , then a PHP format , and then a change to TAP a TALK ... whatever the heck that is ...

This is the number one place in the whole world to get information about Morgan and peace Varieties because of the folks who post here !

I think the more important question is what does the future hold for this hobby ?
I'm probably speaking out of turn , and should just go lay by my dish .
But I can't answer the question I just asked . That would take a village so to speak ...