Plucked a paper thin Seated dime out of the ground today. Barely any details remain but, I'm jumping up and down because I see and S and then I don't see an S.
Images are as found, only a little spritz of H20 out in the field. You can barely make out a possibility of an S from the images. However, when I do an overlay and zoom I think it becomes fairly convincing that the MM is, or more aptly, was there. See video.
If the consensus here is that I'm not crazy and the S exists I think grading will be required to get that labeled. Does anyone know to what extent a TPG will analyze a heavily worn coin in search of a MM? Do they go thru the same overlay steps on heavily worn coins?
DOCC - it looks like the same shape but I was saying I don't know if the flashing back and forth so fast makes the brain still see the shape from the full coin S or if the cruddy partial S shape is really there.
Good Point Marve, I didn't even consider that. Here are still images - enhanced with contrast and exposure adjustments on original. I do think the top serif is pretty apparent and, the alignments are spot on. The white bar on the bottom is the end of the rim.
I'm 99% convinced, I'm inclined to send to ANACS to see if I can get it confirmed. Wondering what toolset they use to ID a MM in extreme wear situations as this.
It's a nice find, but I'm not convinced there is a mint mark present.
Quote: Wondering what toolset they use to ID a MM in extreme wear situations as this.
I don't know - but suspect you will be disappointed that they likely do not convene a panel of experts to carefully examine crisp enlarged images with overlays to assist them.
Likely it's one grader with a 10x loupe who gives the coin 8 seconds to declare it's unidentifiable and moves on.
Yous coin is not an 1885-S. The only die pair for 1885-S has a medium level date. The date on your coin is high, with a downward slope. On your coin, notice how close the top of the 1 is to the base, and compare it to the larger gap between the top of the 5 and the base. Compare the 1 gap on your coin with the 1 gap on the only 1885-S obverse die. Several of the 1885 Philadelphia die pairs have the high date with a downward slope. Here is one high downward sloping 1885 for comparison.
You might have a really good shot by submitting it as an 1885 for a PO-01 grade.
EDIT: If you submit it for a PO-01 designation, send the information on the downward sloping date with it. That conclusively rules out 1885-S, and the only other option is 1885 Philadelphia, so the date and mint ID would be definitive.
@fortcollins, thanks for the info on the 1885-S date position. That should definitively rule out the S mintmark. Unfortunate, but as a consolation, it certainly looks like a good candidate for a lowball.
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Posted 09/09/2025 11:20 pm
