Completed Raw Silver Roosevelt Set incl. All ODVs Today

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

It turned out to be a little harder than I was expecting...

 

A few months ago, I set a goal of putting together a complete set of raw silver Roosevelt dimes that, in my opinion, graded between MS 60 and MS 65 and included all of the CONECA-documented obverse die varieties (ODVs). And I just added the last coin to the set today.

 

The set includes 55 coins in total and consists of all dates and mints from the 1946 to 1964 run of Roosevelts including:

 

* 1946 P, D, and S with ODV-001 and ODV-002

* 1958 P and D with ODV-005 and ODV-006

* 1964 P and D with ODV-011 and ODV-012 (also known as Pointed 9 and Blunt 9, respectively)

 

I don't have unlimited funds to spend on coins. If I did, I definitely could have put the collection together much faster. But, unfortunately for me (yeah, boo-hoo for me) I don't. So I had to put the set together always looking for the lowest prices.

 

Nevertheless, silver Roosevelt dimes are quite affordable and I was able to assemble most of the collection without much of a problem. The most difficult coins for me to find were the ODVs. And this was mainly due to two things:

 

#1 No one really pays much attention to the ODVs of the silver Roosevelt series and they are very rarely ever identified by a seller, and

#2 I bought most of the coins on eBay and most times it is very difficult to see the subtle nuisances of the various ODVs. So a lot of the time, I didn't know what ODV I was getting until I had it in my hand.

 

Specifically, the most difficult coins for me to find were the 1946-S ODV-002 and the 1958-D ODV-005.

 

The 1958-D ODV-005 was difficult to find because the difference between it and ODV-006 is a serif on G of GOD, and rarely are eBay photos clear enough to see it.

 

I'm not sure exactly why the 1946-S ODV-002 was so difficult to find. Most sources say that ODV-002 is more common than ODV-001. But I didn't find that this is the case. I had many 1946-S ODV-001s come and go over the past three months or so. But was only able to get one ODV-002 in that time.

 

So now that it's complete, what's next?

 

Well, some say that there is actually a third ODV on the 1946-dated Roosevelts. It's been called the "Transitional Type". But I call it ODV-001.1. More information on that here in the first few photos: http://www.richardsrooseveltreview.net/1946-P.htm So I will be looking to add those to the set if I can find them.

 

There is also noted to be different Denver mintmark styles on 1962 to 1964 Roosevelt dimes that I'll also be looking to add to the set. More on those here about halfway down the page: http://www.richardsrooseveltreview.net/1964.htm

 

However, neither the 1946 ODV-001.1 or the 1962-1964 Denver mintmark styles have been documented by CONECA so I was not originally looking for them.

 

While I'm doing that I'll also be looking to upgrade some of the coins that, again, in my opinion, are lower on the MS scale. It's a never ending thing with this hobby, eh?

 

Regards,

 

Luke

MSG

 

See more journals by Mr. Smith Guesser

[CBC]

Congratulations on completing your set. I agree about the difficulties of getting varieties on eBay. I have been searching for Walking Liberty varieties on eBay for years. The majority of eBay photos are of such poor quality it's impossible to tell if it's a DDO, DDR, or RPM unless the variety is really obvious. I have found a few unattributed varieties but I have also passed on dozens that were probably varieties bur the photos were so bad I wouldn't take the chance. I have had a little better succes with Heritage but even their photos aren't always clear enough to tell for sure.

[jgenn]

That's quite a task you set for yourself and I'm amazed that it only took you a couple of months. By the way, I like the holders you have them in -- really sets off the appearance of those dimes. I had originally intended to keep my 8 reales in similar holders but I started to get worried about counterfeits, a topic I will be journaling on soon, so I got many of them slabbed. Also, 8 reales tend to vary in diameter and a few of them just wouldn't fit into the largest size insert I could find.

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

Thanks. Yeah I think the company who makes them is called Premier. Or at least whenever I'm looking for the I search for "premier coin holders".

 

They close and seal pretty well and are easy to reopen to swap coins out, but they are a little expensive. Unless you buy more than one at a time, the cost of the holder can outweigh the value of the dime.

 

I think they are the best coin slabs for regular consumers on the market. The BCW holders feel much cheaper and don't always close right. I know that some folks put coins in holders like these and try to pass them off as professionally graded. But I just use them for my own collecting purposes.

 

If there's one thing that bugs me about these holders...they don't really fit into NGC or PCGS boxes. They are just a little too big for NGC boxes. It's possibly to jam them in. But they'll get stuck and you nearly have to crack the NGC box to get the back out. They slide into PCGS boxes pretty easy. But are just tall enough so that you can't get the top on. So I just use the cardboard slab boxes. Thanks again

 

Luke