My Mercury Dime Strategy ... Flippin' Sets

Hmmm Chance,

You have perhaps given me an idea to follow...

But good return on your investment!

I been looking for AU and higher problem free raw coins, and hasn't come up with anything lately, still need to upgrade a handful, but it doesn't seem to stop either.

The prices of Barber sets keep me from looking at those much. I pick up nice ones from time to time, and have some nice ones, but most all of them are common dates. I did pick up a nice AU 1910-S in a bag of mercs a couple years ago. That's the scarcest one I've found that's "nice".

I have 31 different low end examples, and they live in a plastic tube. The nice ones, probably number a couple dozen.

The 21-D in that set was better than the one I had. It's an honest VG.

Chance

Nice set!

Interesting. I have an A and B merc album, the B is a Whitman I inherited from my aunt. I'm mostly finished with the A, and the B were those that needed upgrading or spares. I might try to sell the B album or the rest of the various spares this way. Always thought it would be hard to get a decent price for a nearly-full or full album. Are they really that easy to sell/popular? I refuse to look for a 16D and my 21's are only G's. Now that I have a decent camera I'll post both soon.

Finally got around to taking a couple pictures of the set that I've been working on for a few years. I didn't take pictures of the Roosevelts, but the album also houses a set of those from 1946-1964. This is an older Dansco album (No 7124) and has quite a bit of shelf wear. I just scored a brand new one on ebay that I'll swap this set into, and this album will house my second tier set. The slides are a wee bit yellowed in this one. They may be in the new one too, since I don't think this album's in current production.

I started with this set 3 years or maybe 4 years ago. It was missing the 16-D and the 21s, but had all 48 silver roosevelts in it, as well as 7 dollars worth of clad dimes that I spent.I've no interest in those.

Next, I bought a set that had the 21s in it, resold it and plugged those coins in essentially for free ... and have upgraded via "flippin" 2 sets, and I've bought a few singles and one nice "lot" out of the UK ... South London to be exact. I'm not sure just what my cash outlay is at this point, but I am inclined to think it's a just a shade under 350 dollars for all 128 issues,counting the roosevelt set..

It's been a slow and steady "on again - off again" thing with me over the past few years. It's "gettin' there".

Chance

Some cleaned coins I find terribly offensive, while others don't bother me. It depends on the manner of cleaning. I've seen coins in PCGS slabs with attractive peripheral toning ... and I'd bet my last dollar that the vast majority of them have been dipped long ago and stored in an album for years. A truly original (high end) coin is a rarity. My strategy, and my budget, doesn't allow me to be too fussy. I'm happy to have specimens that are detailed without having been scrubbed with a wire brush.

Speaking of cleaning ... I bought an 1859 Indian head from a German dealer. It had some pretty nasty looking verdigris, but was priced accordingly. I was able to remove the verdigris from it completely by simply soaking it in distilled water and using compressed air to remove the stuff. After it was removed, I could see (under very high magnification) evidence that somebody had used the old "thorn" method of cleaning between the feathers. I shudder every time I see somebody recommend scratching a coin with anything. You simply cannot do that and NOT scratch the coin.

I'll sell that one ... it's got AU details, because I also bought an AU, possibly low end BU 1859 IHC from a stamp dealer in Italy that had a wee bit of verigris here and there, primarily in between a few of the denticles, and a couple places on the Indian's head. I used the same method to totally remove the stuff ... simply soaking in distilled water and using compressed air. Not only did it remove the tiny specks, but it brought out the original mint luster a bit. And it left no tiny scratches. That one now resides in my 7070 alongside an uncirculated flying eagle that I (uncharacteristically) paid way too much money for. It's nice, and an especially strong strike, but there's no way it's not been dipped. Its beginning to look more believable now that it's been in the album for a year.

Chance

I can probably sell the silver rosies for a hundred, so I feel real good about where I am in terms of value and cash outlay. If I did that ... sold off the roosevelts, I could put both merc sets in one album. My second set only has 57 coins in it as of this moment.

Chance