S Mint Mark, Need Comparison Or Overlay Help (1942-S 10c).

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 566
Brandmeister Pillar of the Community United States 6449 Posts	Posted 03/02/2024 1:14 pm I am trying to compare the S mint mark placement and shape on this Mercury dime to the published PCGS catalog. Unfortunately, my little free overlay app is not up to the task of comparing a circulated dime to a mint state reference coin. There is also a small amount of circulation flattening on the the mint mark. Does anybody have a more precise way to compare this S mint mark to the references? PCGS references for 1942-S 10c FS-501. Report this Post to the Staff

kbbpll Pillar of the Community United States 4233 Posts	Posted 03/02/2024 2:09 pm For this type of thing I use MS Paint to draw thin red lines across fixed reference points. It's rather crude but effective if you're precise and good at eyeballing the results. You'll have to rotate your images to be about the same and then get the size of each one equal. Report this Post to the Staff
Brandmeister Pillar of the Community United States 6449 Posts	Posted 03/02/2024 2:28 pm Really fought with the glare on these. The high points are polished by circulation wear, and the devices closer to the rim are darker. Hard to get a photo that balanced glare vs. shadows. Kbbpll, I will give MS Paint a shot, or possibly Adobe Express. I am finding this one challenging because I think circulation wear has slightly distorted the devices, so I'm not even sure that I am lining everything up correctly. Also, tbh, every time I look at that S, my brain says, "It looks correct." But then I look at the PCGS inverted-S reference images, and it says the same thing. It seems to be a symmetrical punch, so I'd love to know how someone decided it was upside down to begin with. Maybe someone can post the CPG entry and enlighten us. Report this Post to the Staff
Brandmeister Pillar of the Community United States 6449 Posts	Posted 03/02/2024 4:29 pm In a further attempt to understand the MMS-005 Straight Serifs mint mark, I decided to put several together. From left to right: a PCGS certified 1942-S 10c mint mark, a PCGS certified 1942-S 10c IMM FS-501, my dime under a magnifier, my dime in an axial box, a PCGS certified 1944-S Lincoln Wheat cent (right side up), and the same 1944-S mint mark turned upside down. And I'd just like to take this opportunity to say: Report this Post to the Staff
Brandmeister Pillar of the Community United States 6449 Posts	Posted 03/02/2024 4:36 pm And suddenly, in the process of being a goofball, I had a little epiphany. There is a bridge between the top tip of the mint mark and the belly of the S. It is clearly upside down on the inverted mint mark. I guess that's how they distinguish a right side up vs. an upside down punch on a highly symmetrical S. Report this Post to the Staff
Brandmeister Pillar of the Community United States 6449 Posts	Posted 03/02/2024 4:58 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Marv65 Bedrock of the Community United States 10472 Posts	Posted 03/02/2024 8:14 pm BOOM - just like that - circulation hit flattens it out - Report this Post to the Staff
Brandmeister Pillar of the Community United States 6449 Posts	Posted 03/02/2024 10:24 pm Interesting that this showed up in my feed tonight: https://www.ebay.com/itm/276362848301 Seems pretty clear that it's very similar to the one I'm trying to authenticate. Edited by Brandmeister 03/02/2024 10:28 pm Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 7 / Views: 566

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