1916-d mercury dime circ grade guessing.

1916-d

1916-D has a mintage 264,000.it is the 2nd low US dime mintage numbers

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I'd guess that nobody collected them in the day. Why now?

 

10 cents in 1916 was like a $10.00 bill today.plus the mint minted 2 Dime that year the last Barber & the 1st Mercury's

 

Huh? 1894-S, 1886-S, 1885-S, 1881-, 1880-, 1879-, 1878-CC, and 1874-S plus numerous other earlier dimes have lower mintages.

 

rlm's I meant Dimes and Denver minted ones

 

Then which one is rarer? It is the lowest mintage both from Denver and since the 1894-S.

 

It sure is rlm's!

 

One of the reasons they got so worn was because collecting by date AND mintmark did not become popular until after the introduction of the coin boards/folders in the mid 1930's, so collectors were perfectly happy with just any old 1916 merc dime. And since they were a significant sum of money, before that time they went into circulation and stayed there.

 

IMO #2 is the only one that deserves a chance of being a G-4.
The rest are AG-3's.
BUT
these are 1916-D's and the rules get bent a little for such coins.

 

The position of the mint mark on your coin seems a bit odd to me. I normally see the "D" tilted right and tucked up closer to the olive branch stem...but if ANACS says it's original...live & learn.

 

The D is tilt I think it is just the angle I used to take photo.

 

It's just that I haven't seen a 1916-d with a mint mark that looks like that...looks more like a 1917-d mint mark. ANACS is a trustworthy TPG so I'm just taking it all in. Thanks for the post.

 

I compared it to mine and I agree.
They don't look the same.
Mine looks like your description.
I don't know how many reverse dies they used.
But with only 264,000 struck there can't be many.

 

Those are some gorgeous examples. I'd stick with the 3rd one..

 

Mikenoodle guessed it right! Coin #4 is the only one in the group graded AG-3. Just from my limited observation of heritage auctions, it appears that NGC is stricter on this key date than PCGS. Especially the newer NGC holders. There are some killer AG-3 mercs and full rim G-4 mercs in NGC holders on heritage. It is amazing to me the spread of quality within one grade. Of course there may be hidden problems that are silently netted when the coin looks strong for the grade, but many of the overgrades are inexcusable imo.....but I guess that is the market.

 

wow.. is that the one being purchased?

 

Yes. I don't think it is undergraded, but I think it is on the strong side for the AG-3 grade.

 

Interesting point.. Is that one you're leaning towards?

 

Great thread. I'll have to brush up on my Merc grading since I'm looking for a 16D. I'll be going to the San Francisco Mint coin show in early November looking out for one to buy to complete the set.

This was a great exercise in grading the lower grade Mercs. Unfortunately, I may have to stay real close to Good for my 1916 D purchase. I know about buying the best you can afford,especially with Key coins, but things have been tough in California this year, Uhm... I need to do some more research and decide exactly what I want to do before I go. In general, it's about EF 40 that I really start liking the coin. We shall see.

Great inspiration with this thread, johnny54321. It really got me thinking.

Bruce

 

Good choice! :thumb: Attempting to look past the inconsistent photos...I think you picked the best one of the bunch (imho). Like you, I'm surprised at the inconsistent grading.