Coinbuf

F15 is what I grade this coin, the obv is closer to VF20 but the rev is more F12 so I settled on the middle. I would not be surprised to see this advertised as a VF coin by many sellers. Value is roughly $10-$15 depending on the selling venue.

Very flashy example, congrats on the purchase.

70/30 it grades fine, it could result in a detail grade, but I doubt it. I would bet that in hand it is far less obvious, the black background is really making it look more dramatic.

Happy turkey day to all!

Perhaps he was just let out of detention.

Its called a mechanical error, when the person typing out the cert info he/she left off that letter. And thanks for the super snarky reply several months after your initial post, showing your true age I guess.

P53 CAC

Microscopes lead novice collectors down rabbit holes is why. Using a microscope to identify a very small but important PUP (pickup point) or die marker is useful to someone that knows what they are looking for. You have said that you are not proficient in coins or feel that you are as of yet skilled in grading, when folks that are new to the hobby they often think that more is better. In the case of a microscope the high magnification will induce many people to see things that are not there, it is called pareidolia, the same phenomena that happens when you look at a cloud and think you see a bunny or a face, the mind sees what it wants to see. This happens all the time here where someone claims to see extra letters, numbers, the face of Jesus, you name it. Sometimes we are told that the person has bad eyesight and needs this in order to see, I understand that as we age some people have issues with eyesight not being able to see the coins is a problem, but more often than not the use of a microscope just does not make things better. Also the photos most are able to take with a microscope while great closeups, as Sandon noted the color balance is usually way off and asking members to stitch together several photos in their mind is just too difficult. And it is also impossible to judge luster or the surfaces on the coin from most microscope photos. The photos you just posted are not incredible but so much better than the photos in your op, from these I would grade this 1945 coin as AU58. Keep in mind that I can only grade the photos and it may well be nicer than my grade assessment. I am glad that you are having fun that is a very important thing in the hobby, and we are not trying to discourage you, rather we just want to help you learn and progress as a collector.

There is simply no way that anyone can grade or give any opinion from the photos in your op, one clear, in focus, cropped photo of the obv and rev is what is needed. All I can say from the photos is that you have a merc dime from 1943, it is a very common coin, and it does not have full bands. Microscopes are a terrible thing in numismatics.

While I have no firsthand experience I have heard that spooning a coin is popular with those incarcerated in prisons, lots of time.

My you sound very confident I hope you do win them but I suspect it will take very strong bids.

Not even close to the beauty that robec posted, but the only one I have.

I'm sorry to say that if you are relying on you tube for your coin information you are more than likely to be very disappointed. Yes everyone who has replied to your thread knows that the coin in question has a low mintage, everyone also knows that because these were only released in the sets practically the entire mintage has been saved vs spent in commerce. Thus it is not now nor is it ever likely to be truly "rare", I refer you to the photo posted above with all the sold listings for this coin in high grade for only around $30ish. Again difficult to say how many of the marks are on the coin or the plastic in your photo, however, the lower jaw line marks are clearly on the coin and those marks alone would easily reduce the grade to MS65 max in my opinion which does not make this a good submission candidate. However, if you do submit please let us know how it grades.

The NGC registry/inventory is how I keep a digital record of my coin inventory, this can be accessed via your phone while at a show. You do not have to create registry sets to use the inventory portion of the registry.

Welcome to the forum, while die cracks are errors they seldom have much value unless very large or numerous on the coin. Die cracks are mostly used on older coin series to help distinguish between different die parings and die states. Your coin might be worth a couple of bucks to the right buyer, assuming that you can find that right buyer, personally it adds no value to the coin in my opinion.

While I do not think the answer would be different in this case, it is very difficult to evaluate and answer a question like the one you have asked without very good photos. It can be very difficult to decern what marks are on the coin and those on the plastic flip, mint cello, or whatever you have this coin in. Help us to help you by taking the coins out of any temporary holder they may be in before taking photos.

The mintmark was damaged when it was struck by another coin or object, as above just PMD.

Ironically in one of the photos of this group several of the members have no facial hair at all. I know that having facial hair is not a requirement to join the group but still struck me as funny.

That is a great looking coin, controversy notwithstanding, I love the design and would enjoy having such a wonderful example in my collection. Congrats on your newp!

I think you are confusing two issues, the likely scenario is that NCS was suggested because NGC could not have slabbed the coin due to whatever issue or environmental problem the coin had. That does not mean that NGC did not see the cleaning prior to suggesting conservation, only that the coin might have been returned in a body bag without the conservation. You can choose to use this experience and learn that it may be prudent to ask questions before you authorize any procedures in the future. In the end you asked for an opinion, and you got one, not liking it is just one side of TPG grading.

I have not seen this category before myself, while the US mint has recently done some colorized coins perhaps these were a private mint issue vs the US mint?

I do not see any evidence of a doubled eye, looks to be a normal coin with lots of die chips from poor quality control.

NGC has a nice write up on Paquet and the dies he engraved for the mint and the medalets associated to him, here is a link to that. Link Unfortunately I have no source information for you as I have never looked for any of his work.