got my first ASE and Commemorative today

[jerseyben]

Picked up the following:

-1987-S ASE in plastic case
-1986-S Commemorative Silver Dollar (Ellis Island) in plastic case
-1934 Peace Dollar (EF/XF)
-1897-O Morgan Dollar (F)
-1887-O Morgan Dollar (F)
-1885 Morgan Dollar (AU)

$148 total

I think I did pretty good. Not great but not bad either. My grading skills are far from professional, I used the "photograde guide" on PCGS's site. I am a little concerned about the authenticity of the 2 "O" mint marked coins. One of them has a higher mint mark than the other (closer to the wreath) and they look different too.

 

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[KJW]

If you want to verify the Morgan Dollar & Peace Dollars are Authentic then you should go to www.VAMworld.com

Here is a link to the Die Varieties of 1887-O Morgans:

http://www.vamworld.com/1887-O+VAMs

I know with the 1887-O VAMs it is best to start with the Date Placement. There are denticles all the way around the rim of the coin. if you count the denticles between the Neck "V" and the first digit of the date "1" you should get between 2-3 denticles. Less than 2.5 denticles = Near date, 2.5 denticles = Normal date, more than 2.5 denticles = Far date. Ounce you have figured out the date placement then look at the mint mark. There are different places it can be placed. High, Low, Shifted Right or Left, Tilted, Doubled, etc..

http://www.vamworld.com/1887-O+Date+Sort (Sort By Date Position)

http://www.vamworld.com/1887-O+Reverses (Sort By Mint Mark Position)

Here is a link to the Varieties of the 1897-O Morgans:

http://www.vamworld.com/1897-O+VAMs

Here is a link to Learn How to Attribute the Morgan Vams:

http://www.vamworld.com/Attribution+101

Here is a link to the Discussion forum if you have questions.

http://www.vamworld.com/message/list/home

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any help. I love VAMing coins. Kris

 

[jerseyben]

http://www.vamworld.com/message/view/home/32157630
for the first 3 Morgans.

http://www.vamworld.com/message/view/home/32158100
for another Morgan and Peace Dollar.

Trying to determine if they are fake and if real then corresponding VAM. Thanks for any help.

 

[KJW]

1887-O Looks like it a VAM 18 or 19 ask on VAMworld if they agree.

1897-O Looks like a VAM 6

1885 looks like it might be a VAM 2 but I can not tell for sure without a close up of each digit. The 1885 series has a bunch of vams listed and alot of them are decided on what the digits looks like.

1898 I can not figure it out without closeups of the date digits.

1934 Peace Dollar I am not very good with peace dollars and most people have a harder time with Peace dollar VAMs. Some people figure them out quite easily but they are totally different than Morgan VAMs. Luckily 1934 only list 3 different VAMs and it don't match 2 of them so it must be a VAM 1.

The Peace Dollar looks like it was cleaned with an abrasive (fine diagonal scratches). You want to try and steer away from buying cleaned coins because they loose significant numismatic value when they have been cleaned.

These are the closest matches I could come up with the pictures you provided. If you don't have a jewelers loop yet you will need one to determine alot of the varieties that have minute details (Doubled Stars, Doubled Ear, Doubled Date Digits, etc..) Alot of the doubling is very slight on some of the vams. Take for instance VAM 3 of the 1885 VAM series. If you look at this link it will show the slight doubling on the date digits for a VAM 3. http://www.vamworld.com/1885-P+VAM-3

Hope this helps some. Kris