Mercury Dime 1916 Grading Questions 1 1

[EGH49]

This was part of my father’s collection and has been with me for over 40 years.

The first obverse photo, although not very sharp,  is close to the overall look in hand. There is a slight blue toning between the date and the T, not very noticeable in the photo.  The second is with flash and shows some of the details better.

Questions:

Using PCGS Photograde, is my estimation of  AU58  with FB an accurate grade?

Is that a rim fin on the obverse and would that detract from grade / value?

Thanks.

[J P M]

58 ? not sure , FB Looks good to me.

Edited Wednesday at 06:29 PM by J P M

[Sandon]

   I think that your grading assessment is correct. The coin's having been struck from a slightly misaligned obverse die shouldn't make any difference to its grade or value. A "fin" can result from a misaligned die, but it would have to be raised above the rest of the coin's edge to earn that appellation.

[powermad5000]

I agree that this is not a "rim fin" and was struck with a partially misaligned die. If you look at Mercury dimes across all the years in this series, you will see many struck with a slightly misaligned die. It is considered common at least to me to see this on these dimes as I have seen literally hundreds or so with a slightly misaligned die on either the obverse or the reverse.

You have some areas of heavy toning on this coin which could be masking some potential defects or even a possible past cleaning and that could only be ascertained with the coin in hand. The reverse was struck with a late stage die as I see the flow marks in the metal towards the rim and I am not sure if that area on the reverse at around 4 o'clock is flow lines or actually scratches that could give the coin a details grade. The obverse looks to be struck with a late stage die as well although not as late stage as the reverse die. The obverse toning could also be masking scratches or other issues we could not see in the photos.

I don't think this coin is MS and if it were to end up at best case being problem free I think it could grade as AU 55 FB. I at one time owned a Mercury dime graded as AU 58 FB and I just did a quick look at the NGC census on this coin and there is 1 specimen graded as AU 50 FB believe it or not. I do however, think that it would be more likely that this would return as AU Details which would not have the FB designation attached to the grade as a details coin, even if it does have FB.

 

[RWB]

Would have to see the coin to decide if really AU-58, or actually EF, but it is a nice looking coin. 1916 dimes had a different relief than 1917 and later.

[EGH49]

Thanks so much for the opinions and excellent info.   The photos are actually a bit harsh, the coin has a softer more even tone in hand, almost satiny.

Powernad5000:  

Even with magnification these tiny coins stretch the limits of my bifocals…I didn’t notice the flow lines, so that’s interesting.  I do see what you refer to on the reverse.  To me it doesn’t seem to be a scratch but -refer to sentence 1.

Another question; on a coin with a problem free surface would a late stage die impact the grade?

Thanks again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[powermad5000]

On 9/26/2024 at 10:17 AM, EGH49 said:

Another question; on a coin with a problem free surface would a late stage die impact the grade?

My response to this question, and I am not 100% sure about my response but confident in it, I happen to feel that it does affect the grade. My reasoning for saying this is the actual details of a coin struck by a late stage set of dies would not be quite as sharp as a strike from the dies when they were first put into service. Also, I cannot remember seeing any coins in high grades with major or extreme flow lines in the fields. If someone has an example of a high graded coin struck by late stage dies with heavy flow lines, I would like it if they could post pics of it here with it residing in the slab.

[EGH49]

Thanks.  Makes sense since the highest grades reward perfection and, as you said, late stage dies would not be as sharp.  SOOOOOOO much more to this coin business than I ever knew.  One baby step at a time...

 

[RWB]

"Grade" is a description of the state of preservation. It does not describe the original appearance of a coin. For example, all "uncirculated" coins should be free of abrasive wear, but they will differ on the quantity, distribution and severity of post-striking marks. Hence, they might grade anywhere from MS-60 to MS-70.