1892-S Barber Dime

Hi Shadow,
This dime looks like it should make VF-20 for details. The scratches I think are pretty obvious and will significantly reduce the value. I would guess that a "net grade" for this coin would be F-12. Retail for the 1892-S in F-12 is around $200, so if the scratches don't trouble you, you probably did OK.

Personally, I now try to avoid problem coins since those that I purchased in the past gradually began to bug me. I'd rather spend more and get a really nice coin, or else settle for a lower-grade but problem-free specimen. Just my opinion!

I'm not really concerned about being ripped off, it's worth at least 120 even cleaned (at least it seems so), but I'm just wondering if it is because I didn't think it was and I need to know this in the future. Plus I'm hoping I got a better deal, 100 for 200 is certainly better. It was midday and I took it at the last second at the opening bid, seems everyone else is at work. Even if it is cleaned I might just keep it because it's a key date. Aside from the ones that are blatantly too bright, is there any way to tell if it's been cleaned?

I would have to say probably not or if it was, it was many years ago. The surfaces have a nice even dove grey tone and you can see lightness of color on the areas with the most wear. IMO, it has a very nice look for a coin of that grade but the nose scratches are distracting to me.

Okay, thank you for your opinions. Does anyone have a detailed guide on how to detect cleaned coins? The ones that are too bright for the grade are obvious, but, it's hard to tell otherwise. I did take those scratches near the nose into account while buying; bumped 1/3 off the price guides while considering value. Is that about right?

I'd like a better pic of the obverse. It's a VG for sure with a very high probability that it would go higher if I could see more detail. Are all the letters in Liberty visible? If so are they all complete? I'd knock it down half a grade for the scratches...

So basically...

VG6 if only some of the letters are visible
F10 if they're all visible but some are partial
F15 if they're all plainly visible.

If it's a VG6 then it was probably a toss up on whether it was a good deal. Any better than that and you came out ahead.

Also on first impression I'd say that this one has been cleaned... I'd like a better pic of it and I don't have anything other than a gut felling to go on... For the most part with well circulated Barbers I tend to think of them as being cleaned until proven otherwise.

I completed this set a while back and found it next to impossible to pick up circulated semi-keys that hadn't been cleaned at some point. My suspicion is that these coins were around when coin collecting was in it's infancy and as such cleaning wasn't frowned upon. The liklihood of a coin being cleaned back in the 20's was higher than it is today and as these coins were still in circulation they would have been considered a starter set... As such you'd have lot's of eager new collectors trying to make their sets look as good as possible. With the scarcity of the semis it seems natural that on a percentage basis more of them would have ended up being cleaned.

Now I have no way of confirming that... It's just a suspicion... BUT in my head it makes sense.