Sandon

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Your 1997-P dime exhibits a minor error or quality control issue known as a "collar clash". See https://www.error-ref.com/collar-clash/. These are rather common and of little or no collector value but still an interesting find. If you are "new [to] this", it is very important that you learn basic information about coins before getting into advanced topics such as mint errors, which require an understanding of how coins are made and significant examples of which are almost never found in circulation. Do you have such basic resources such as a "Red Book", a grading guide, and a subscription to a current price guide?

Welcome to the NGC chat board. 2008-S Presidential dollars were issued only as proofs in mint sealed proof sets, from one of which, unfortunately, this coin has been removed. The edge lettering on proofs is created by a "tripartite collar" that is in three segments that close together from the sides as the coin is struck. It is normal for there to be a raised bit of metal at each of the seams where the segments come together, as on your coin. You don't see such seams on Presidential and other small dollar coins with lettered edges struck for circulation because their edge lettering is created by edge lettering dies that are applied after the coin is struck. When you post photos of coins about which you have questions, please post clear cropped photos of each full side of the coin as well as pertinent closeups. Additionally, you should not touch a coin with your bare hands, except by the edges if you must. Skin oils can be corrosive to coin metal, especially to coins that are largely composed of copper and zinc such as these small dollar coins, and the mirror surfaces of proofs are easily damaged. I recommend soaking this coin in acetone or at least rinsing it with clean (preferably distilled) water and patting (not rubbing) it dry with a clean cloth or tissue as soon as possible to prevent the appearance of devaluing fingerprints and spots. Assuming that the coin is still in mint condition, which we can't tell without better photos, it would have a retail (dealer sell) value per Coin World as a typical, uncertified proof of any of the Presidential dollars of that year of $4.50 or so.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. No, this coin is one of the over 6.8 billion 1990 cents struck at the Philadelphia mint. The rare "No S" proofs were issued in a small minority of mint sealed 1990 proof sets, and to my knowledge none has ever been found in circulation. Proofs would have mirror fields and frosted devices and lettering that are absent from this coin.

The 2000 "Wide AM" cent is a nice circulation find but not a particularly valuable one. I purchased an uncertified Brilliant Uncirculated example at a coin show a few months ago for $5. Please note that it is best to limit each topic to the coin referred to in the topic title. We're still awaiting full, cropped photos of each side of your purported 1996-D "Wide AM" cent, which I understand is not a known variety. The photos should look something like these (of a 1991-D):

As an update (or perhaps epilog) to this topic, I recently submitted all four of the gold coins that were saved by my grandparents to NGC. The results were as follows: NGC graded the 1906-D Liberty Head half eagle MS 62. My grade would have been no higher than AU 55, as the coin has high point "rub" and only partial luster. Having been used in commerce, the coin is "circulated" in at least the literal sense. NGC graded the 1909-D Indian Head half eagle AU 55. The coin has little luster in the fields and rub on the Indian's cheek. My own grade would have been Choice Extremely Fine (45) to AU (50), but in this case the difference between third-party grading service standards and my own isn't that great. The 1907 "Indian" Head eagle was the unpleasant surprise of the submission. I had expected a "details" grade of AU (possibly Uncirculated) Details due to the coin's obvious rim damage. NGC recommended that this coin be subjected to NCS "conservation" on account of alleged "residue", which would have cost another $58. Having had quite unsatisfactory results from the previous "conservation" of a much lower value coin by NCS, I declined subjecting a family heirloom to such an experiment, so the coin was returned to me unencapsulated. I carefully inspected the coin both before submitting and on receiving it back from NGC and cannot find evidence of any "residue" on the coin other than perhaps a small amount of dirt or toning that was also visible on the coins that were encapsulated. (The obverse photo I posted shows a small dark area in one of the recesses of Liberty's hair, but the coin itself shows bare gold in that area.) I'll try soaking it in acetone but don't expect much change in it. I'll probably return it to the square lucite holder in which I stored it for about the last fifty years. NGC graded the 1910-S "Indian" Head eagle AU 55. My own grade would have been no higher than XF 45. The coin has more wear on Liberty's hair and the eagle's wing than I would have thought permissible for an AU grade, and the coin has only traces of luster.

1927 Peace dollar, ANACS graded MS 62 in old small holder:

You can't reasonably compare a coin made for circulation long ago and distributed in bulk, such as a 1916-D "Mercury" dime, with a noncirculating legal tender piece made and issued as a collector's item, such as either of the pieces you are hawking, of which virtually all minted still exist in superb gem condition.

If you are offering the coins in the links for sale, your topic should have been posted in the "Coin Marketplace" forum and in accordance with its guidelines. My answer to your question would be "neither", as I think that new collectors should "buy the book before the coin" and do a good bit of reading numismatic references and learning how to evaluate coins before spending substantial monies on them. For that matter, one can purchase a very nice uncirculated example of an actual "Mercury" dime for a lot less than the mint's computer generated 2016 reproduction in gold.

I can see scratches and abrasions in the fields of your coin notwithstanding the poor quality of the photos. If you are seeking our help and advice, I don't understand why you knowingly posted overexposed photos and are wording your posts in un-punctuated jargon. For comparison, here are somewhat better photos of a 1967 Kennedy half dollar that PCGS graded MS 64 and for which I paid all of $10, letting someone else take the loss by spending substantially more in grading fees and related expenses:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. It is refreshing when someone appears to have actually found a significant coin in circulation, as this is not the case in the vast majority of the claims of this sort that are posted on these forums. Based on the photos, I would say that this is a 1992-D "Close AM" cent. I would grade the coin in the AU 55 to 58 range, although the scratch in front of Lincoln's chin could result in a "Details" grade. (It is also possible that a third-party grading service could give it a low "red and brown" mint state grade.) As the coin's surfaces are likely contaminated with skin oils and other substances to which it has been exposed, I recommend that the coin be soaked briefly in acetone or at least rinsed with clean (preferably distilled) water and patted (not rubbed) dry. It is not possible to predict what this coin would sell for, but based on Coin World Values and the PCGS Price Guide--NGC does not provide values for this variety--the retail value for a 1992-D "Close AM" cent in my expected grade range, assuming that it is not "Details" graded would be approximately $1,700 to $2,200. See https://www.pcgs.com/prices/detail/lincoln-cent-modern/47/grades-25-60/ms?pn=2. If you are not familiar with submitting coins to grading services, you may wish to submit it with the advice of and through a reputable dealer who handles such submissions. NGC has a dealer locator at Find Coin Shops & Dealers | Coin Dealer Locator | NGC (ngccoin.com). You may also wish to check for a dealer in your area who is a member of the Professional Numismatists Guild (the PNG) at https://www.pngdealers.org/. If you want to submit the coin to NGC yourself--you will need a paid NGC membership--you should carefully review the various topics under the "Submit" tab on the NGC home page. I would submit this coin under the "Standard" ($40) tier for coins valued at up to $3,000 and be sure to check "VarietyPlus" and pay the additional $18 "VarietyPlus" fee.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Please post clear, cropped photos of each full side of this coin. Otherwise, it would not be possible for us to evaluate your claim.

1926-S Peace dollar, ANACS graded MS 63 (old small holder):

No such variety has ever been reported, nor are we provided with any photos. Considering the nature of this OP's previous claims, this one is highly doubtful.

1843-O eagle, ex-John Jay Pittman collection, conservatively graded "Very Fine to Extremely Fine" by its cataloguer David W. Akers, currently at NGC: Edit 4/4/24: NGC graded this coin "AU Details, Cleaned".

1834 Classic Head quarter eagle with Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated details that I would call "whizzed" (possibly just vigorously "cleaned" with a pencil eraser) but which NGC classified as having an "altered surface" and wouldn't encapsulate. It's still a well-detailed example of this scarcer type: Remember, gold is "wild", so the next post may be of any gold coin or any coin dated 1834.

@Jason Abshier--The figure of 42 1995-W proof ASEs you show graded by NGC in PF 70 UCAM are for coins encapsulated in Mike Castle signature holders only. The NGC Census shows a total of 941 coins awarded that grade, out of 7,483 1995-W proof ASEs graded by NGC. The total of 1,441 coins in the "70" grade by NGC and PCGS combined presumably contains some "crossovers" or other multiple submissions.

1892 Barber half dollar, ANACS graded Uncirculated details, "cleaned" in an old small holder. This coin has the "triple die reverse", now FS-801, and attributed on the holder, though hard to see in the photos:

You may find the following information on the various forms of "worthless doubling helpful: https://www.doubleddie.com/144801.html and links therein on mechanical doubling, die deterioration doubling, and abrasion doubling.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The rough surfaces and weak details identify the piece in your photo as one of the numerous crude replicas (fakes) of the sort sold in souvenir shops for decades. See Continental Dollars | Coin Explorer | NGC (ngccoin.com) for photos of rare, genuine pieces.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. It is desirable when posting photos of coins that you include cropped photos of both sides and not just close ups. Generally speaking, any significant feature on a coin can be seen at no more than 10x magnification (some say no more than 5-7x). The extreme magnification you are using here isn't necessary. Die cracks are very common on both old and new U.S. (and other countries') coins. They are simply indicative of a die that is approaching the end of its useful life and, as you noted, as the worn die continues to strike coins, the cracks lengthen. They are usually collected as novelties and have little collector value. (One participant in these forums, @Errorists, rather likes them.) Only where a die has remained in use until a large piece has broken off of the die, forming an unstruck, blob-like area called a "cud", is there much collector interest or any significant premium. Showing the crack in progressively more advanced stages would, however, be interesting. Here is an uncirculated 1942-S wartime composition Jefferson "nickel" with a meandering reverse die crack that runs from the "S" in "PLURIBUS" at the top to the second "S" in "STATES" at the bottom. (There is also a thin, curving crack from the side of Jefferson's head into his hair.) We've seen pieces of other dates in this series where the dies cracked in a similar pattern.

Based on your photos, the 1989-P quarter is not a mint error. Someone "spooned" its edges after it left the mint. Please see the following topic: Contrary to what you may have read or seen on some websites, it is extremely unusual to find any significant mint error or other rare or valuable coin in circulation or in coins that were accumulated from circulation. In nearly 53 years of collecting and studying U.S. coins and checking change, I have never found any coin worth more than a few dollars in circulation. I know only one collector who ever has received a significant mint error in change. The vast majority of pieces that people post here believing that they are mint errors or die varieties are coins that were damaged or, like yours, altered after leaving the mint. Nearly all of the others exhibit minor anomalies or "quality control issues" that have little or no market value and wouldn't be attributed as mint errors by third-party grading services. It's fine to keep on looking through change, but please understand that you are highly unlikely to find anything of real interest or value. If you check the inventory of a dealer who deals primarily in mint errors such as Sullivan Numismatics, you will find that the vast majority of the more expensive items offered are in uncirculated grades. I understand that most major mint errors are discovered in newly issued coins at counting houses or by bank personnel who sell them to coin dealers. Some have even been smuggled out of the mint by mint personnel. In 2002 the U.S. Mint initiated procedures that have made it very difficult for any major error that results in a coin being misshapen from leaving the mint, and very few such pieces have been found dated later than 2002. I assume that you have a current or recent "Red Book", a grading guide, and access to current price guides from which you can obtain basic information on U.S. coins and collecting them. If you don't, please let us know so we may assist you in obtaining them. For generally correct information about mint errors at an introductory level, see the following: Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 1 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 2 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 3 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 4 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Variety vs. Mint Error | NGC (ngccoin.com) For a comprehensive treatment of mint errors, see the site error-ref.com.

I have always made it a point to look for low mintage and/or hard to find coins that aren't usually or ever promoted and to avoid highly promoted pieces that are always available for a high price. I'd settle for circulated or even somewhat impaired examples of these coins, and even as such they can be quite hard to find notwithstanding deceptively low list prices. Notwithstanding the lack of promotion, more serious collectors have become of how scarce these coins really are, and many of the pieces that I bought decades ago now sell for multiples of what I paid for them. They include the aforementioned three cent silvers and gold dollars but also include many scarcer Bust and Liberty Seated coins. When I have time, I will create a topic about such coins.

Die chips of this sort are abundantly common on cents and other U.S. coins of this era. Decades ago, there was a fad of collecting the "BIE" cents, but today they carry little or no premium and are not attributed by grading services. See the following topic, one of whose featured coins also has a chip in the date similar to yours:

I had to click the links several times to see the coin, whose photos were still very small. I would be very reluctant to bid on this coin, which superficially appears to be a cameo proof 1878 Liberty Seated quarter, sight-unseen and uncertified on the basis of these photos. It looks too good to be true, and I am puzzled as to why a legitimate coin dealer would offer such a coin uncertified nowadays. It could be a counterfeit or alteration. Does this seller have a return privilege that would extend to the amount of time it would take to have the coin certified?

Yes, you may consider the 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle a "key" date in that series, just as you may consider the 1909-S V.D.B. cent a "key" date in the Lincoln cent series. However, a modern coin issued as a collector's item with 30,125 reported sold and nearly all likely still in existence in high grades can't be considered a truly "rare" coin. Their high price results from high demand that is largely driven by market hype. There are a number of much lower mintage and scarcer U.S. coins that sell for a fraction of what these Silver Eagles cost, for example, post-1862 three cent silver pieces and certain gold dollars and classic commemoratives. The challenge is to find them.