how clueless am I?

[thegood50]

My partner Jan inherited a small coin collection from her uncle. Two years in the closet and I finally volunteered to look at the coins and found Morgans. I'm not a collector but have spent the last 2 years learning the coins and sending them in for grading and variety verification. This site has been extremely helpful with the vams. Like they say "collect what you like" and that's what uncle Walter did. A lot of melt coins but some nice ones. This my first post so please excuse me if this post is ridicules. I have no clue what the coins are worth if anything in these hard times. Thank you in advance, any help will be most appreciated.

1900 P Discovery coin VAM 40, ANACS AU 50 details I-2, R-5 still have the paperwork from Mr. Van Allen
1878 P 7/8 TF Strong VAM-40 PCGS XF 45
1882 CC VAM 2C2 ANACS VF 30 details
1887 P VAM 1A PCGS XF details
1887 P VAM 12A ANACS MS 64
1888 P VAM 12A DDR ANACS MS 60 details
1891 O VAM 1A1, E Rev ANACS XF 40
1904 O VAM 4B, ANACS EF 45 details
1904 O VAM 35 ANACS MS 63
1921 P VAM 3C2 ANACS MS 63
1921 D VAM 1AM ANACS AU 58 details.

There are another 11 not worth mentioning, I-2s R-3s. The good news is that the collection did have a '93 S PCGS VG 08, should help pay for the grading and variety verification. Thanks everybody.

Tim

[DHalladay]

Hello Tim and welcome!

There are no dumb questions when it comes to VAMs, except the ones we don't ask. And we're all clueless to some extent, because we're all constantly learning.

Jan has quite the hode-podge of coins there. All are pretty common and the grades are modest at best. The 1893-S is by far the best of the bunch (worth about $2300).

Details coins are also known as "problem" coins and the market for them is poor. The rough rule of thumb is they are worth 1/2 of what a problem-free example is worth.

Discovery coins can be an exception. There are a few collectors who gravitate toward them, but there is absolutely no way to accurately predict/guess what they should or will sell for. Sorry. It's important to keep the paperwork from Mr. Van Allen with the 1900-P.

Here are my best guesses at what your coins would sell for on eBay:

1900 P Discovery coin VAM 40, ANACS AU 50 details I-2, R-5 still have the paperwork from Mr. Van Allen... $50 or less
1878 P 7/8 TF Strong VAM-40 PCGS XF 45... $50
1882 CC VAM 2C2 ANACS VF 30 details... $50
1887 P VAM 1A PCGS XF details.... $25
1887 P VAM 12A ANACS MS 64... $100
1888 P VAM 12A DDR ANACS MS 60 details... $30
1891 O VAM 1A1, E Rev ANACS XF 40... $75
1904 O VAM 4B, ANACS EF 45 details... $25
1904 O VAM 35 ANACS MS 63... $70
1921 P VAM 3C2 ANACS MS 63... $40 to $50
1921 D VAM 1AM ANACS AU 58 details... $25

-- Dennis

[thegood50]

Hi Dennis,

Thanks for the knowledgeable reply Dennis. It's what I expected after reading vamworld posts. I'm 70 and retired and the Morgans were a very nice 2 year hobby for me, the higher grade coins sure are pretty. Guess we'll pack them up and pass them off to a relative when we kick the bucket. Might sell the '93 S.

Thanks again Dennis, much appreciated,
Tim

[DHalladay]

Tim:

I'm very glad to help. Speaking of which...

Does your 1900-P discovery coin paperwork include photos of key features taken by Mr. Van Allen? If so, VAMworld badly needs to get a high quality copy of them, so an attribution page can be created that shows other collectors (and those in the future) what to look for. His cover letter describing the coin would also be very helpful, since there is information on it that would go on the attribution page.

If you would let me borrow whatever you have I will copy it, return it to you, and see that the attribution page gets created.

-- Dennis

[thegood50]

Nice to hear from you again Dennis,

I would be my pleasure to make a copy of the letter and photos for you. Just sent an address and I'll get them in the mail tomorrow!!

Tim

[DHalladay]

Just sent you a Private Message Tim.

-- Dennis

[DHalladay]

I badly messed up my value guess on the 1887 VAM 1A (now called 25A). Depending upon what kind of details problem it is and how severe it is, a graded XF would probably be more like $75. A raw coin would be more like $50.

My apologies.