Buying a 1916-D Mercury. Certified or not?

My next acquisition will be a 16-D Merc. I am limited to around $1500 more or less. Been looking awhile. Seems my range is G4 to G6 maybe 8 in certified. I need to poll you experts. Would you buy a 16-D mercury dime that's not certified? Usually anything over 2 or 3 hundred I buy certified because I feel safer. But there are a lot of nice 16-D's out there that are not certified and a lot cheaper. Give me your opinions. Also how about certified w/details?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Certified w/details would mean it's genuine, it just has problems. I don't know if that's what you're asking about.

On the certified question, I'm not saying in every case I'd insist on it being certified, but if it wasn't, in no case wouldn't I take a very hard look at it, and, if I could, get other opinions too.

 

Over $200 buy certified, no mater what coin. Cheaper usually
means counterfeit with 1916-d.

 

I buy almost all my coins raw, I like getting a deal. What ToughCOINS said is true, but the 16D is probably the most coin to be altered there is. If you ever want to sell a raw genuine coin, you would need to have it slabbed to get a fair price. I wouldn't take the risk of raw on that one unless you have handled a bunch of them and know without a shadow of a doubt exactly what you are doing.

 

In this price range, with the amount of counterfeits and problem coins known, absolutely do not ever buy uncertified unless you are an expert and know what you are doing. You absolutely should only look at graded coins in problem free slabs if you are not 100% sure of your grading and authentication skills, because otherwise you will get screwed. Guaranteed.

 

I have purchased several low grade 16-D's raw and one lower grade slabbed. Anything over a VG grade should be slabbed in my opinion.

 

The flip side of this, of course, is that you can buy a raw genuine coin for an unfairly low price. It's just that your odds of buying a raw fake are much, much higher.

Not 100% guaranteed, but close enough.

I remember Kurt crowing about an MS65 raw 16-D that appeared in one of his beloved back-country auctions. They're out there. It's just that it's a really, really big haystack of fakes, with very few needles scattered through it.

 

With this date and mint mark, I'd only buy it slabbed. Too many counterfeits out there.....

 

Buy certified from a reputable dealer. There are enough in low grades that you will be able to choose the one you like best. Look at several before pulling the trigger. I'd try and get a VG coin, although these are considerably less prevalent than AG-G coins. Be aware that not only are some raw coins fakes, but there are also "details" coins that people crack out and sell as problem-free. There are eBay sellers that specialize in this practice.

 

We buy:
Life insurance
Health insurance
Disability insurance
Auto insurance
Homeowners insurance
Renters insurance
Personal umbrella policies
Flood insurance

Why wouldn't we buy 'slab' insurance to protect us just the same?

 

And still you can get 'had'.....Trusted dealers only.

 

So very true. Just another endorsement for slabbing it.

 

Would buying it at a large coin show increase your probability of getting an authentic coin?

 

Buy it certified/slabbed PCGS or NGC.

 

Buy certified / slabbed. I bought mine uncertified when I was young, over 40 years ago, when there was no slabbing. I always dreaded that I might have a counterfeit until I sent it in to be certified and graded and mine turned out to be OK. I would never buy one raw today.

 

Thanks guys. Certified is the way I've been leaning. Now I'm positive that's the way to go. Most dealers I deal with are highly reputable. For expensive items like $50 or over on ebay I require the dealer to have over 2000 feedbacks and at least 99% good feedback. Also at least a 14 day or more return policy. Now to start looking. Would like to get higher than a grade 8 but would have to sell the house, wife and grandsons. Thanks again.

 

As a collector, I would never buy a 1916-D Mercury Dime raw. There are too many fakes. As I dealer I used to buy key date coins raw because as another poster said, "You can get deals," but you better darn well know what you are doing. It's easy to get hooked.

 

I wonder if the stats on this coin have already been established. What percentage of the collectible '16-Ds are still in a raw state as opposed to being slabbed and certified? Are there any known instances of counterfeits getting past the graders?

 

It definitely happens. I bought a raw 14d Lincoln on ebay for chump change that came back 63BR. On the other hand, my 16D hole is filled with a F-15 that my dad bought in the late 70's. I'm really glad he never knew the D was added. When I figured it out decades later, I didn't tell him because it would have broke his heart.
I'm a collector. I wouldn't trade it for a real one. A coin does not have to be worth a lot in order to be valuable to it's owner.