1942-S/S Mercury Dime FS-502 For Grading.

AU Details due to a light cleaning.

Agree that it's probably not mint state. The question in my mind is whether it is AU or details.

Despite being required for registry sets, there are only 3 graded FS-502 in PCGS slabs. NGC does not attribute this variety at all.

Angled pics, indirect sunlight:

I think I am just going to write off this particular seller. Their pictures always look so good, but I am almost always disappointed when I receive the coins. What good is cherry-picking rare varieties if everything is cleaned, dipped, or polished? It is frustrating to successfully hunt a rare $300 coin, only to discover that it has been reduced to 5% of its market value by careless treatment.

Another rarity for the reference library, instead of the grading queue and auction block. =|

Thanks, guys. I really do appreciate the help. =)

westernsky, I know that cherry picking has a learning curve, and there will be bumps and bruises along the way. Obviously, I can't control where a rare variety might pop up on ebay, and in what condition. Also, in all fairness, I've had some considerable wins hunting varieties raw. But finding a ruined rare variety coin just bugs me, especially when the cause is preventable and widely accepted as ill advised.

It wasn't consignmenthub. It was another big ebay seller, but since I also sell occasionally on ebay, I don't want to criticize them in public. They seem to sell a lot of coins, so the cleaned and polished dimes must be popular with many folks.

Hey Brand,

Good job in spotting that rare variety.
Its terrible why these sellers tries to "improve" the appearance on the coins they put up on ebay, often they believe it will bring higher return and perhaps they think collectors like cleaned coins.

I hope you make sense out of this seller, and persuade him/her not to do so much cleaning by saving time and cleaning agent.