Some Additions To My Mercury Dimes And Other Parts Of My Collection After A 2 Year Dry Spell

I unwrapped my presents....

I got a stocking stuffer today too. I got my new points and condensor for my old troy bilt tiller that crapped out on me while doing some chores for my Mom last week. I get to go install them a bit later.

Then the book of dimes ... The 1925-S is indeed the 1925-S. That shouldn't come as a surprise, but there was a 1936 in the 16-P slot, a 1941 in the 1921-P slot. Methinks somebody was going even blinder than me when they stopped cramming dimes in cardboard folders.

First ... The Scurvy Crew that Ol' Missy was keeping company with. There's a couple with some kind of (used to be) clear nail polish or something like that on them. The one I thought had a big X carved into it ... turns out its just magic marker.

More jibber jabber after this picture ...




A handsome bunch indeed.

OK, the 1925-S came from Phelan California, right about 400 miles from the San Francisco mint. She's nice, but seems she spent a little time "buying mints" between the mint and Phelan. She has that beautiful Whitman "makeup" like her buddies, and I'm pretty sure she's had a bath along the way. There just doesn't seem to be anything in the way of "frost" on her Lilly anywhere that I can see.

Her partner, the 1925-D ... has bought a few more ice cream cones than "Missy" ... and he looks pretty tired. I have to imagine the partner as a "he" ... it's just the way I'm wired.

I've made far better purchases ... but I've made a few worse ones too. Its always educational. It was worth the gamble ... if only for having something to look forward to. Not enough of that feeling to go around these days since losing my wife last December.

Here's the King and Queen of the Homecoming Ball.... and something I picked up on a shopping trip to Germany this morning for about the cost of a pizza and a pitcher. It looks cleaned too, but those guys are prone to using scanners rather than cameras, and the coins are frequently lots nicer "in hand" than the scan can reveal. OK ... pics...












Merry Christmas ...

Chance

Not sure I like the splotchy toning, to be honest.

I removed the splotchy toning. I just soak the coin in acetone for an hour or so, pat it with my T shirt, "lather rinse repeat" until the toning is gone. It only took about 5 hours to do it.

I'll keep the new one. Its probably a 40 or a little better, while the other one may be a 30. The numismedia jump between those grades for this issue is pretty big. VF at 13 dollars and XF at 72 dollars. Its not as nice as I'd hoped it would be, but until I find somebody in GB giving away a pair of Uncirculated 1925s minted in San Francisco, it'll have to do.

The strike of the "new" addition is way better than the "old" one.

The last2 pics are of the 41-S with the Large trumpet style S. It hangs from the olive branch like low hanging fruit. Its noticeably larger than the normal mint mark.

I got a nice 1917-S in from Barcelona this morning too. Darn thing got away though. I can't remember what I did with it.

I put some nice dimes in the set, which now has no 1925-S. I put nice coins in for 1916 and 1917, added a 1919-S that I dug in the spring. There were a lot of culls in that collection. There are only 3 now.

If I can put my hands on the dime from Spain ... I'll take some pics of it. Its a nice coin and it was stupid cheap....like me.

Chance

Congratulations CS! The coin looks beautiful after your 5 hours of labor and endless patience waiting for a coin to arrive in the mail. I know the feel!

I can feel the love you have for the hobby all over this thread.

Actually Canada IS in America. Just not in the USA.

It's a good thing you can never have too many Mercury dimes.

I'm going to have to do some more serious selling now. I just bought this incredible partial collection of 59 different mercs from Rick Snow's Store, Eagle Eye Rare Coins in Tucson via ebay. The coin in the upper left hand corner is the 1916-P, and the coin on the lower right hand corner is the 45-S. Would you take look at the other "57 different" sweeties crammed in between. those two?

Having bought it through that venue, I'm certain that there are no big money key dates, and probably no FSBs, but this collection is positively dripping with mint luster.

The best news of all is that it cost no more than an average partial set of "street mercs" is offered for every day on ebay. If there's nothing to improve my set, breaking it up will prove profitable.

Pinch me ... so as I can tell if I'm awake. I keep dreaming that I just "fixed" a few shortcomings in my set without taking a loan against my house....then I wake up.

If my wife were alive .... I wouldn't be 'long about now.

I couldn't resist naming the pics Snow-1 and Snow-2.

Chance

Last night was a very good night. I stumbled across another buy not related to my Mercury dimes while doing some listing research on ebay. I was checking to see what I should list a 1923 SLQ for in order to be competitive. The image below is a digital scan of the coins I bought.

Later this week should be very interesting. The coins that started this thread have made their way from England to New York, and are said to be enroute from NY to my little town.

This bunch from Rick are supposed to be here by Friday. The English lot should be here .. and the Morgan and 4 SLQs should be in from Kentucky. The reverse of the Morgan looks like it was/is proof-like. Scanners do funny things though. I used to have to use one before I bought my first digital camera, so I pretty much know what to expect.

Chance