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 Replies: 14 / Views: 535 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6526 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
I'll say VF/EF details (scratched, possibly cleaned).
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
74444 Posts |
I'll say VF details.
Errers and Varietys.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36782 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
18673 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
599 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
10563 Posts |
Quoting Coinfrog - "C'mon", way more than cleaned - "polished" - Is that coin in polished condition worth a premium? I don't know....not really up to date with Mercury dimes. I really only deal with the 1916-D's and the 1921's. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6526 Posts |
Hm. So for future reference, how do I spot the difference between smooth circulation wear and cleaned? I can see that the coin doesn't have much dark patina around the letters. Is there something else? I assumed that the little scratches and scuffs were also from heavy circulation.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10563 Posts |
Polished silver is "shiny" - whether it be coins or silver ware. Not polished - circulated.........  Polished......  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6526 Posts |
That makes sense. I can see the difference in the coin surface now. Is this the result of someone using silver polish or another similar cleaner on the dime? Or did this happen via another process, like rubbing it on a carpet?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2281 Posts |
This thing has had a very very rough life.
You realize when you know how to think, it empowers you far beyond those who know only what to think.
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
18673 Posts |
Brandmeister, there are so many ways to clean or polish a coin. its hard to say what was used and how it was done. my best guess on this one is that it was cleaned and then maybe polished with a jewelers rag
when you are looking at a VF circulated coin you will never see the highly reflective surfaces you see here. this really stands out when you compare it to the coin Marve65 posted. add it to your knowledge base.
learning to discern cleaned/polished coins is very important in order to avoid overpaying for a coin however it can take a while to know to look for. looking at tons of detailed coins is really the only way. there is one forum I'm a subscriber to and the majority of the coins folks are selling on there are cleaned/polished or damaged and people are way over bidding for these. I bite my tongue every time I'm on there. I want to tell them but sometimes you have to learn the hard way.
at least you are on the right forum to learn how to identify these. until you are able to determine these on your own I would suggest just posting them here before pulling the trigger when possible especially for coins that cost a little more. you're doing the right thing here
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6526 Posts |
panzaldi, as always, I appreciate the knowledge that you guys provide. A bit about my thinking on this subject: I will occasionally make a small speculative purchase for the purpose of expanding my skills. I think of them as "beer buys", because they typically cost around the price of a pint of microbrew. This particular Mercury dime was $5.24 including shipping. I don't usually buy vintage silver coins because I feel I am out of my depth there, but in this particular case, I was trying to identify a 1942-S dime with the inverted S mint mark. These variety hunts are quite a challenge given the image quality on ebay. Out of the ~650 1942-S 10c coins available on ebay, this particular coin was the only one that I felt had a good chance of being the rare IMM. There are only 40 PCGS graded FS-501, and actually, two graded VF35 sold for over $150 each (although that appears to have been in the early days of the CPG listing). After grinding on the mint mark in another thread, I think I finally understand how to hunt down the FS-501. I would say it is more likely than not that this coin is the IMM variety. So I've extracted my $5.24 of knowledge and enjoyment from this dime. =) It's a bummer to realize that the coin has been damaged by polishing, but as you said, that's also part of the education process. I was so locked on hunting the mint mark variety that I didn't even think about the coin's overall condition. That's a solid lesson for hunting future varieties where real money might be involved. For $5.24, I would have bought this dime regardless, just to determine conclusively if my ebay variety hunting radar was correct. Anyway, thanks for the help! I will definitely remember the polishing lesson for future coins. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11896 Posts |
XF details cleaned
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: " It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website: https://fairfaxcoins.com |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
18673 Posts |
Brandmeister I was more speaking about anything of value. $5...worth a shot. $25 maybe not
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Replies: 14 / Views: 535 |
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Posted 03/03/2024 1:48 pm
