The True View photos accentuate toning, so seeing the surface is a bit challenging. I downloaded the photo and eliminated the color saturation until I had a very flat-looking B&W photo.
There are a lot of things going on here. There is die clashing, a soft strike, and possibly a slightly tilted die. The surface scratches and dings seem less consistent with bag marks than with light circulation. The scruffiness beneath the "IM" of DIME is a die issue. I", not really sure what that is, but I've seen that on other 1884 dimes. There are several scratches heading in different directions from the "N" in UNITED, around the head, and around ONE on the reverse. I see what looks more like light circulation than strike weakness on the head, shield, knees and on the upper grains on the reverse.
The reverse appears more like an AU-50, but the obverse is much stronger. My instinct is that this is a slider with a weak strike. Dimes get some grace because they always were beaten up by the larger coin purse bullies. Put me down for AU-58, though I wouldn't be shocked if they see it as anything from AU-55 to a low to mid UNC.
EDIT: IGE beat me to it!
Edited by fortcollins
03/18/2026 4:47 pm
Posted 03/18/2026 08:54 am
