Early research on United States Morgan and Peace silver dollars has been donated by long-time collector and researcher Bill Fivaz to the not-for-profit Institute for Silver Dollar Education and Research.

The institute was formed in July by silver dollar specialists and researchers Michael Fey, Jeff Oxman and John Baumgart, soon after Fey purchased the research archives of numismatist Leroy Van Allen, co-author with A. George Mallis of The Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan and Peace Dollars.

Fey’s acquisition from Van Allen comprises Van Allen’s reference books, coins and library and research materials.

Fivaz said he donated his research files on U.S. silver dollars to the institute “because Michael did acquire all of Leroy’s material that I thought my files would complement what he already had. I’m clearing out ‘stuff’ that I’ve had for years and didn’t want to just deep-six it.”

A key function of the institute, according to Fey, will be to attribute new Morgan and Peace dollar varieties, and assign VAM numbers to all new discoveries.

Leroy Van Allen, Bill Fivaz, David Close, John Roberts, Michael Faraone, Larry Briggs, David W. Lange and Randy Campbell have volunteered to serve on the advisory board.

Baumgart will be the chief attributer, and from time to time will be relying on one of the specialists on the board for assistance in determining new Morgan silver dollar varieties and errors, along with correcting VAM book listing mistakes.

Close will do the same for Peace silver dollars.

The Ilovesilverdollars.com domain name is secured for the institute, to share research.

Fivaz donation

Fey says he has hundreds of pages of research materials from Fivaz to examine and catalog for the Institute.

Among the items donated are:
➤ The 217-page Dollar Varieties and Errors Scrapbook written mostly by Fivaz, compiled by Van Allen, and published by Numismatic Error Collectors of America Chairman Randy Campbell in 1979.
➤ Pages reflecting Fivaz’s thoughts on forming the VAM Club, and the face page of original handwritten notes in Report #2 by Fivaz of the early members of the club.
➤ The face page of Report #10 which was written by Fivaz and featured Pete Bishal, the researcher who, along with Van Allen, discovered the first Morgan dollar struck: the VAM-9 1878 Morgan, 8 Tail Feathers dollar, held at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums in Fremont, Ohio.
➤ Multiple loose-leaf binders full of handwritten notes by Fivaz, along with varieties by date that he purchased, from who he purchased them and what he paid, and notes on variety descriptions.

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