I dropped my Donkey Tail On the concrete

[pawnee101]

I have come back, sold out last year from over eager greed of high grade morgan dollars that always graded 1 to 2 grades lower than I had planned and the god awful body bags, well I got about a hundred raw morgans again, nothing like the ones I did have, no way to buy morgans cheap on Ebay anymore, well almost no way, I found a 1887 Vam 1a that had been listed with no bids and in the second auction I ran across it, looked like a Donkey tail, so I bid on the nice coin, all the time I figured it wasn't. couldn't get that lucky for 19.99 and the only bid, well it turned out to be a genuine Vam 1a Donkey Tail, me and a friend were setting on the bench n front of my store and I told him about this coin that I had just got in the mail, I said it's probably not but oh well worth the chance, as I opened the package, normal 4 by 6 padded envelope and this coin was wrapped in bubble wrap about 2 inches thick, I started tearing at the bubbles and there seemed to be super strong clear tape all over it, wow finally got a hole started and I could tell the coin was in a plastic flip, normally a fold over one, well this seller was getting the most out of his 2by2 flips by cuttin em in half for 2 coins, half a flip and about that time the coin flew out of the open flip and bit the dirt, concrete I mean still I did not know if it was an AU 1A , when I plucked it up it had a nice rim ding and was a AU Donkey tail

[thebeav]

Well, it reminds me of what my mom always says......"Owning a 'Donkey-Tail' with a rim bump is ALWAYS better than not owning a 'Donkey-Tail' at all".....

You know, I think she's right.....Nice catch....

 

Paul

[cpm9ball]

I realize how upsetting this must be for you. Now, every time you look at that coin, you will be reminded of that unfortunate accident. My advice would be to sell the coin so that you can put it in the past. Send it to me, and I will give you double your investment.

 

Chris

[pendragon1998]

Nice catch....

 

Well, not really - isn't that the point?

 

 

Sorry, couldn't help myself

 

[pawnee101]

Thought you might want to see the rest of it and tell me what you think, if it will grade and if it will grade 50,55,58,uh,45 hope it will do better than 45. Anyway start the bashing, Thanks

 

[thebeav]

What is that black on the obverse, near the date ? It looks like a rubber band 'burn'.

That's going to prevent any grading right there, rim not withstanding.

 

Paul

[WoodenJefferson]

Not necessarily a bashing as you asked for an opinion based on the images provided…and from what I can see, is a “no grade” due to severe environmental damage on the obverse near date/rim area.

 

I’m not a “VAMified” collector, so what’s a Donkey Tail?

[MAULEMALL]

It's a fairly hard to find Top 100...Click here

 

 

That is a nice example of the break...

 

 

 

Edited to add;

At the bottom of the link you will see,

1887-P VAM-1A PCGS XF40 eBay $494.01 Jan-18-2007

[cpm9ball]

I don't know what the black stuff is between 4 & 6 o'clock, but the rim damage doesn't look that bad. That is a really nice example of the Donkey Tail. Why don't you send it to NCS for conservation? If they feel it will grade, they can send it over to NGC. It looks AU50/55 to me.

 

Chris

[pawnee101]

If you will view the lower reverse picture, now look at the blob of metal below and attached to the D of Dollar and the die break that runs along this area, all this is what makes it called a Donkey tail, very valuable rare coin, you and all the other readers will pay more attention to 1887 P dollar even in AU XF after this I'am sure! Thanks all for your opinions, I really don't think the dark area by the date is a rubber band, I have seen other silver coins have a similar build up from really acidy paper, in peticular a set of old hard paper cardbourd drawers that I own has done this to some sterling stuff I had in it, yes I will send to NCS first, I am pretty sure they can remove it!

[davestuf]

I have seen the VAM before, but do not know what it stands for. Can someone enlighten me.

[cpm9ball]

I have seen the VAM before, but do not know what it stands for. Can someone enlighten me.

 

VAM: It's an acronym for Morgan & Peace Dollar varieties. Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis were the authors of the book, Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan & Peace Dollars , and it represents the initials of their last names.

 

Donkey Tail: The rear end of a quadruped.

 

I wasn't sure which one you were asking about.

 

Chris