Found 1889 10 Cent Piece In My Childhood Collection - Banged Up, Though...

John sums it up well as always.



to the CCF!

Thank you so much everyone for the very kind welcome to the forum. And for the useful feedback on the coin.

Yeah, the damage is quite extensive. It's a bit depressing; it's literally the only coin in my collection that is in this shape. And it just had to be the one coin of mine that seems even remotely rare. Ah well.

I did find a very tiny 2 pence piece from 1901 with Victoria on it that is in really nice condition in comparison, though that's a UK coin and probably shouldn't be posted here.

I've been trying to familiarize myself with grading standards by reading through lots of descriptions on the coins and canada site. And it looks like assigning grades usually comes down to very small and specific variations in the level of detail remaining on the obverse.

When you have this kind of damage on my 1889 dime, does that mean it's below even the grading framework? Or is this the kind of stuff that would make a coin "AG" level? Or is there some level lower than "AG" and "G"?

Thanks for all the help. :-)

Thanks so much for the info.

I'm not too familiar with the 'Details' marker. I guess this is just where they point out special issues with the coin, for the buyer to be aware of?

Would you be able to give the coin a rough estimate of a grade with details, based on these pics? Not as anything definite, of course. Just a rough 'ballpark' grade and details evaluation, so I can get a sense for how these things work, with coins in this kind of condition.

As an aside. I seem to be having some bad luck with these things. I found a one shilling piece from 1859 in my collection, but it has a whole punched in right near the top... Looks like someone needed a necklace. Though I can't really fault them for not considering 'posterity.' To them, it would have just been another shilling they had lying around, initially. Can't expect regular people to be thinking about the requirements of numismatics over a century and a half later. Lol.

Ah, that's ok. Hopefully there will be some other folks who might chime in later.

Thanks for all your help so far though!

Thank you. I may not be able to post again for a while because I'm heading back to university. But I'm looking forward to uploading more coins the next time I visit my parents (where the coins are stored).

Details designation: when a tgp grades a coin, damage is noted separately from the grade. So, the tgp will assign a grade to the coin, then write 'Details' in the comments section to note the damage. For me, I would never get a coin graded if I knew it would come back with a 'Details' designation.
Collectors don't like the 'Details' designation but for a rare coin that is scarce in any condition a collector might not mind it much at all. Better for something to fill the hole, than nothing. Kinda like the Newfoundland 5 cent 1873. Most Newfoundland collectors would be happy to have one in any grade.

Thanks so much, everybody, for the useful information on grading and details. And also for the well-wishes regarding school. I'm actually finishing up by BA. Hons. in History this year, so my coin collecting when I was a kid actually directly contributed to my interest in the field.

Semi-related to that, I am considering selling the coin, as I am not super attached to it (I think I actually just found it in a desk somewhere in my home, which dates back to the 1870s). And I figured that is money that could really help with textbooks (there's lot's of required reading for history seminars).

So I was interested in getting some advice on grading, because I thought getting it officially done might help with selling it. Though the consensus seems to be not to bother with the grading. Which leaves me in a position where I'm not sure what a fair market price would be.

I hope I'm not breaking any rules by asking, but seeing as I probably shouldn't pay for an official grading, and even if I did, it would have a 'details' notice for obvious damage, may I ask what a reasonable ballpark might be for pricing this for sale?

As many people have stated, it would make a good hole-filler for a Canadian dime collector, until they manage to save up for a better condition one.

Just for reference, here is a another one of these that was NGC Graded G-6, which sold for $899 + $10 shipping on ebay just two weeks ago: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Canada-1889...AOSwMv5bbeyE

Of course, with the damage, I imagine mine would be worth a lot less than a G-6 without a details marker for damage. But does anyone have any idea of what might be a fair price, in a ballpark sense?

Sorry if asking this is breaking any rules. I've just never sold anything online before. And coins seem particularly tricky.