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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,614 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
Thinking about getting this one from a large seller on ebay, but I've gotten extra paranoid about cleaned and other problem coins. I was thinking about getting an inexpensive coin from them for a first purchase before trusting them with much money... So, how does this Mercury dime look to you guys?   Edited by CaptainFwiffo
09/06/2011 6:42 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2936 Posts |
I'd say a good strong XF. There does appear to be some mint luster on the edges but the reverse looks a bit "bright" in the fields which might indicate cleaning at some point. It's a nice looking coin though.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
4944 Posts |
I agree, that the coin looks like it has been cleaned at some point.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4132 Posts |
Yeah, I figured as much. I asked the seller about it over the weekend and they said they couldn't see any evidence of cleaning. Guess I'll another seller to my "skip" list... I just got home and found this one in my mailbox. Ugh. I had ordered it from yet another seller on ebay before that last horrible batch had arrived.   Am I crazy, or is somebody out to get me? Is it just that it's really that hard to find higher grade circulated Mercury dimes that haven't been cleaned? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3345 Posts |
I think it's habit for a lot of dealers/sellers to clean coins before they sell them because they think they can trick someone into paying a higher price because the coin looks nicer. How wrong they are...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5833 Posts |
Captain, I am in the same boat as you, its either abrasively cleaned or over dipped to the point I can see that the coin wasn't probably rinse and are left with milk white spots. I have to buy slabs and am unable to fill order for raw coins. And some collectors don't like slabs or either slabs are expensive. The local dealers I go to don't usually have large supply of Mercury dimes, junk lots are plenty, but hard to find anything from VF-AU from the teens to early thirty's RAW. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
@Mac: Would you agree that the '28 large S is cleaned? It seems pretty clear to me, but I want to get a second opinion because I'm still sorta new and I don't want to overreact to something normal. I do have a couple other coins from this seller from a previous purchase (all relatively easy dates), and I looked them over again closely and they look just fine. Certainly not anything like this.
I don't mind buying slabbed; I prefer it for uncirculated and for the big keys, or even semi-keys like a 26-S or 25-D, but it seems crazy to have to only buy slabbed for what should be a 20-30 dollar (or less) circulated coin. It's getting to the point where I want to give up building my circulated set and just content myself with working on my slabbed uncirculated short set ('34-'45).
I guess I need help finding honest dealers. I will pay a premium if I know I'm getting a nice original coin.
Edited by CaptainFwiffo
09/06/2011 9:06 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5833 Posts |
Captain, I look at your pictures first at a reduction to the smallest my browser goes to match a normal dime size, then slowly increase the resolution, at about 2X if I can see it with the naked eye without enlarging further, the dime you have is cleaned on the obverse or unintentionally scratch from mishandling it. Here's my 28 'S' large "S' that's in a slab labeled as cleaned.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
The color is a bit on the bright side, but not like that. The thing that has me thinking cleaned is the abrasions. In hand, without magnification, it looks a little off compared to my other Mercs, but under magnification...   I mean, the scrub-a-dub-dub lines around the "I" can't be from natural wear, right? This is where I wish I had more experience, but I can only get experience by looking at lots of coins. The seller had good pictures (by ebay's standards), but this kind of detail was not visible. I did not pay a lot for it, but it still chafes! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5833 Posts |
I retake the pictures over again with my Canon Powershot. The one I have is lightly buffed? Real hard to tell!   Its in a SEGS slab. Graded AU-50. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
It's true they don't look like the same coin, but they do both look unnaturally colored to me. And the glossy quality to the wear points looks unnatural. Excluding the cleaning and polishing, I'd only grade it XF details too, but it is SEGS and I try to be conservative.  |
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Valued Member
344 Posts |
*** Edited by Staff - Please Review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***
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Valued Member
344 Posts |
*** Edited by Staff - Please Review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2936 Posts |
Hey Capt. Let me know how you like the ones you bought from me when you get them. I think they are street legal....  |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,614 |
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Posted 09/06/2011 5:52 pm
