Please note. Whoever said you can do this using an electric toothbrush never tried. On the other hand, tape the sucker to the bottom of a pad sander and you can make the coin spin in circles. I will try to post picks of the sander (for those who don't know what one is), the coin duct taped in place and HURRAY! The coin straight up in it's holder. This is m new 1905-O MICRO "O" Good 4 Barber Dime. SM White Holder James
Just for kicks I took a picture of the Micro "O" and the only other "O" mint coin I have to show the difference in size. I stil have to find out how this anomaly came to be. james
That is brilliant. I love handy, well thought out solutions to a problem. This should be a sticky thread along with @lordmarcovan "how to crack a slab" video.
I think the electric toothbrush is used in PCGS rattler slabs the coin moves much more freely, I couldn't imagine trying it with a soapbox slab.
I've seen various methods of truning coins in old, full contact holders like this. I'm curious to hear if these sorts of methods work on pronged holders? Even better than the OP - I'd love to see him do it in a video so we can actually see the process working!
Great idea. I have good luck taping the corner of the slab on a hard surface but worry I'll crack the plastic.
@physics-fan3.14 . I have never posted a video in my life and am still amazed I managed to turn my coin. I will say this: once you secure the coin to the pad sander the real trick is not spinning it too fast. Took me 2 tries to get the coin to stop where i wanted it. James
@KBBPLL . I know I am new at Barber coins (And you said grading was not your strength); and the bump in (owner) grade is a real thing but seriously. With 5X magnification I can clearly see the faint outline of the Bands and clearly see the letter L, T & Y. On the reverse the cereal grains are clearly defined. Screw gradeflation. This coin meets every marker for a VG-8. What were they thinking calling this coin a Good 4? Compare to the VG-8 on photograde coin facts at PCGS. James
Micro O supposedly came about because the person at the die shop used a letter punch intended for a smaller coin. Half Dimes probably. The O on the 1851O Trime is pretty large.
My coin just keeps getting better. I just learned from the 1998 Barber Society Coin Collectors Journal that there are 2 die marriages for the 1905-O Micro "O". Vol. #8 Issue #3 from 1998 postulates there are 2 die marriages. Vol. #9 Issue #4 says Die marriage 1 is at least twice as rare as Die marriage #2. My coin has the #1 in the date pointing directly at the tiny "B" for Barber that is on the bottom of the portrait. The key factor for Die #1 identification. Perhaps I will have Messydesk add this notation. James
@Burton Strauss III . If I understand you correctly; the Micro "O" is not an actual mintmark but a lettering punch miss used as a mintmark? Any advice on where to look or how to find additional information? BCCS does not have topic search for their journals. james
i'm not sure if robots can be trusted but i asked my AI thing to explain to me how the Micro "O" came to be minted. It claims that the mistake made was that a mintmark designed for quarters was used on a dime. It goes on to claim that the constricted space on the reverse of Barber quarters forced the mint to use this smaller mintmark. Still looking to see if anybody else says this. james
Impressive that it was effective on something as light as a dime. How long did it take? The micro O is the mint mark punch for the quarter. There is less room for the mint mark on the quarter reverse design than there is on the dime.
@messydesk . The hand sander has very strong vibrations. The coin actually spins almost freely. I had to spin it twice because it moved faster than I could stop it in time the first revolution. I am curious. If at some time i have you identify it as a die marriage #1 coin would you also notate the presence of the letters "L", T", & "Y" ?