I often see a Morgan with VAM associated with it. What does that mean? How about VBD or is it VDB with a penny? I have seen these two sets of three initials often, and really do not understand what they are meant to communicate. I assume a variety of some sort? Thanks,
I believe VAMs are recognized die marriages for Morgans. I don't remember what it stands for. But for the people that are absolute fanatics, they like to know what obverse and reverse dies were used in combination to create their coins, whenever possible. Usually recognizable by certain die cracks or defects with the coin. Or positioning of devices such as mint mark. VDB stands for Victor David Brenner. The guy who designed the bust of Lincoln that went on the Lincoln cent. The first run of 1909's contained his initials on the reverse at the bottom edge of the coin between the wheat stalks. At the time, this caused an uproar with the public and they felt it was too self centered and arrogant for him to include his initials on the coin. So, the V.D.B. initials were later removed off of all the 1909 cents for good that year. Leaving us with 1909's and 1909-S' with and without the V.D.B. initials on their reverses. Most collectors now prefer to have one with the initials and they have more value.
V.D.B. are the initials of the engraver who designed the lincoln cent Victor David Brenner. VAM is a name given to die varieties on morgan dollars extensively researched by two men ,Van Allen, an Mallis.
VAM is an acronym for the authors of The Comprehensive Catalog & Encyclopedia of Morgan & Peace Dollars¹ by Leroy Van Allen & A. George Mallis, who cataloged more than 2000 different die pairs [varieties] that were used to strike the Morgan silver dollar series.
I appreciate the research of VAM, but 2000 die varieties??? So, just another gimmick to charge people more for a Morgan dollar simply because its some catalogged die variety. Also, be careful of a V.D.B. penny. Because a vdb penny has so much more numismatic value, people have been known to put them in a vice and stamp vbd on them to increase their value. So, several fakes abound.
Not at all, it was just a way to catalog all the die varieties, and some became more popular then others. Most VAMs command no premium, it is only the popular VAMs (Top 100, Hot 50 and Hit List 40) that command premiums, some very small, and some have very large premiums.
It's always a good idea to do research on the coins you want to buy. Especially for valuable coins. However, if some did put a penny in a vice and stamped the VDB initials in, the letters would show as "incluse" and not in relief as on a genuine example. A surefire tip off that something wasn't right.
I prefer to view mssrs. Van Allen and Mallis as numismatic scholars, not charlatans out to make a buck. They were very dedicated and observant men who simply observed differences between coins of the same date and mint. They spent innumerable hours observing untold thousands of coins; with great attention to detail, they researched and catalogued those many varieties. The entire hobby has benefited as a result of the dedicated efforts of these men - and it was a momentous effort indeed.
I agree 100%, their work was really amazing. Btw just as a side note, Leroy Van Allen up until this year didn't charge a dime for his services, regarding send coins to him for attribution in the case of possible new varieties. I believe now, because of the increased submissions he charges something like $5, a very small fee.
That is a nice story. BTW: My recent order of 17 VAM's arrived yesterday. I did not fully understand what I was buying, but did so because of a gut feeling. They look great. They are a pitted die variety - I forgot which number (forty-something).
