1926-S Mercury Dime - Will PCGS Straight Grade This?

IMO there's a fine line between "circulation cameo", which is something I personally enjoy, and environmental damage. To me, a lot of the coins in that thread don't have circulation cameo, but a layer of ED.

As to your coin in particular, the reverse does look like it would have potential if it were conserved. The way it looks right now is that it has a layer of crud caked onto it rather than a true "cameo"(also note the verdegris above AMERICA). But a proper conservation job would probably remove most of that and have a pretty nice look to it.

Unfortunately the obverse is not so nice, the surface is pitting due to heavy corrosion build up, there's nothing that can be done to reverse the loss of metal.

I know that the greysheet for an XF 26-S merc is $190+, but it's a conditional rarity, anything below XF and the value drops considerably, down to less than $30 even in VF. Almost every collector you ask would say they would rather own a problem free VF coin than an XF coin with ED, so you need to also use the VF price point as a reference when considering the value. You commonly see this with Morgan dollars that are conditionally rare in MS. Morgans that are slabbed UNC detail that would be worth 3-5K in even low MS sell for less than 1K, like this one:

https://coins.ha.com/itm/morgan-dol...ption-071515

From the pictures it doesn't look too heavily cleaned and would probably be a mid grade MS if it weren't, but it sells for below AU-58 value because most people would prefer an AU coin to this.


To be clear, you didn't pay an absurdly high price, probably a bit more than I would have, but not too much more. The coin has potential to be conserved IMO, there's a lot on the surface there that, if removed, would significantly increase eye appeal. The only problem is that, as coinfrog said below, it may be harder to unload than a problem free coin. I would not recommend you send it in though, it wont gain enough resale value to justify the cost.

After reading most comments here, you're probably right...but sure, stuff like this gets a pass.
https://www.greatcollections.com/Co...-AU-55-Toned

PCGS-AU-55

As far as I am aware, that is correct. There's not a real point at which it becomes ED but rather a case by case basis because after all all toning no matter how attractive is technically ED. But in general: dark, black stains = ED.




There may not be ED toning under it, like I said it may conserve nicely, but from my perspective I have to assume whatever I see on the coin is permanent.





From behind my screen, the areas I would be particularly concerned with are between S and T of TRUST, behind the head, and right on the cheek in front of the hair curl. most of that looks like corrosion rather than just toning or staining IMO. I think it would be hard to tell for sure without removing the spotting and seeing what lies beneath.

Please keep in mind I am nowhere near an expert, this is completely my opinion and I could be completely wrong.