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 Replies: 16 / Views: 6,901 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1590 Posts |
Ignoring the 16D what issue is the toughest one to get? Both as a date or with full bands.
I'm voting for the 26S in MS.
The reason I ask is that I regularly go through bags of Silver scrap. I honestly can't tell you how many 31Ds and 31S' I have. I have also found a dozen or each of the 21 and 21d. But I have 2 count them TWO 26S'. Both in XF of all things.
I really wonder if at 26 S fsb is a lot tougher than most of us think? Or is this something well known to the specialist?
Thanks!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7840 Posts |
I would say it's the 1945-P FSB.  Edited by oih82w8
06/15/2012 5:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
I don't think anyone would dispute that '26-S is very hard. I complain about it regularly. Any specialist knows it's a semi-key. Along with a few other dates, it's priced higher than '21 and '21-D in MS64FB and above. Like a lot of the pre-depression, branch mint dates, it's probably more difficult to find in XF-AU than it is in MS. But it's a bear in almost any grade.
I also think 1919-D is underrated. But almost every branch-mint dime before 1929 is difficult in higher grades.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1770 Posts |
yea the 1927 and 1928 S and D in very high grades commands quite a nice price guess it all depends on the conditions one is trying to collect aside from the very obvious ones
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3345 Posts |
21D seem to be proportionally cheaper than 21 in the same grade, from what I've looked through
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5832 Posts |
jmkendall,
I need to search the bags that you got! LOL...
25-D in XF is tough, along with 17-19 S and D.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
Coins struck at San Francisco from about 1923-1927 are some of the worst quality of the whole series. They're often fuzzy and ragged looking because of over-worn dies and often are poorly struck on the periphery, in the center, or both. 1926-S combines that poor quality with a low mintage and low survival rate making nice examples extra tough.
David Lange, in his book, says 1927-S roughly as common as 1926-S in Fine-AU but is actually more scarce in mint state. 1926-S gets more attention because of the lower mintage, so he suggests 1927-S is currently undervalued. It's one of the last 10 open holes in my book currently.
Low mintage isn't everything. 1931-D is the lowest after the big 3, but it has a lot of mint state survivors of good quality, a large number being MS65FB and better. 1938-D, believe it or not, is the lowest mintage from 1934-1945, and it's completely common.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
I would say it's the 1945-P FSB. This. Name another Merc whose price of admission runs 4 figures, if you can find one. 1916-D's aren't difficult, by comparison. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1659 Posts |
Only 264K 1916Ds were minted. The math says that's the toughest, but since we're s'posed to be ignoring that one - a problem free untarnished 1931S in BU was the most elusive.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1590 Posts |
Mac, that makes sense. I have some mercs from the 20s that look f on the obv...but as soon as you turn them over they look about good!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
1945 in FB is tough, of course, but 1916-D with FB is more expensive than 1945 with FB at every grade level. In MS64FB and higher 1919-S is pricier, and for full band gems, there are at least four more expensive dates than 1945.
Are we including the over-dates or other varieties in this discussion?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1590 Posts |
Sure, I'm interested in all of it! Knowledge is good!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5832 Posts |
O yes! For a error/varieties collector like myself, there are lots of them to look out for, besides the RPM, over dates, broad strikes, off-center, doubled struck and rotated dies. I have been searching for a wrong planchet Mercury dime forever, that is even more rare than any of the above. IMHO. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
There were a couple clipped planchet Mercuries that went for very reasonable prices recently on ebay (very small clips though), but my Internet was acting up and I never got a bid in. I've never seen a wrong-planchet Mercury dime. Off-metal dimes must be rare because they're the smallest, so you'd have to have a foreign planchet or something odd to fit inside the collar. The coolest Mercury dime error I've seen is a 1943 cent struck on a 1943 Mercury dime.   I believe there are a handful cents struck on Mercury dimes known, but this is the nicest looking one I've seen. Edited by CaptainFwiffo
06/15/2012 10:18 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5832 Posts |
Ahh!
The 11ยข. I sometime think these are the creation of Mint employee trying to make an extra (thousand) buck. They are rare indeed!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Being a Mercury dime nut myself, I have well over 3,000 of them. Presently have 12 Whitman Albums full. Out of many years of looking I've found the most difficult high grade one is the 21D. At coin shows I've seen almost all of the Mercury dimes in MS grades over the years. Yet never a 21D so far anyway. Even in my #1 set, that one is about MS-60 at best. Recently a dealer I know had one in MS-63+ and ended up selling it for more than he told me I could have it for. Oddly enough the 31D is the 4th lowest mintage one in the series and they are all over the place which is probably why so cheap. 42D/41 is also one of my most difficult finds in MS grades. And recently working on a possible MS-60ish with FSB's, 1916D but the price is a bit out of reach for now. |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 6,901 |
Posted 06/15/2012 6:11 pm
