Earliest Broken Nose Mercury Dime

Most collectors know that excessive die polishing led to what is commonly referred to as the "broken nose" variety of Mercury Dimes. The die polishing actually wore off the design element where the nose meets the forehead. But here is an interesting question. Does anyone know what the earliest dated broken nose Mercury Dime is? Let's see who can post the earliest broken nose. I will start off easy with a raw 1945-D.






Okay, who has a broken nose. Let me see em!

 

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I have no idea what the answer is....but that's an awesome looking Merc!

 

well, i have a 26. so that will be my answer( i also think i have a 43, but its tough to say. you can decide, but now that i look at it i don't think so)!

these coins were going into the silver bag and taken down monday! i never heard of this broken nose thing before. i am definitely going to keep the 26 now.. thanks!
sorry these are the best pictures i can get my new camera to get(still learning it). i got a nice scanner, just have to get it to my house!

 

Interesting.
Never even heard of or read about this.

 

I've got one: My 1941S NGC MS-65FB PL is a broken nose. These are old pictures, the coin has since been to NCS and had the spots removed, and is now at Bob's for better pictures.

I had heard of this before, but never really checked any of my coins for it. Is there any premium associated with it? I know the Buffalo 2 feather coins are a similar deal - die polish wore down the die and removed the third feather, and I know there is a premium associated with those.

 

i am embarrassed how bad my coin looks compared to the other ones posted...

 

Would this polishing be at the mint? Or would it be PM?

 

Its at the mint. If the dies get dirty, or if there is a clash, or any number of other reasons, the mint workers will take brushes and clean/polish the dies. Vigorous polishing can remove details, such as the nose.

 

True, the grinding effect would have been responsible for removing the nose. But wire brushes were often used, and are generally considered responsible for die polishing lines - such as those on the reverse of my coin. To say that they aren't going to alter its appearance is somewhat simplistic - steel on steel is going to leave scratches. Many times, areas of missing detail are surrounded by die polishing lines, such as the Merc that Lehigh posted in this thread: http://www.cointalk.com/t52825/ Two possibilities - your zinc grinders removed the detail and then they brushed/polished it up to make it look better, or the heavy vigorous brushing removed the detail. Both are plausible in my opinion.

 

I really thought I would see more broken noses. I guess we don't have very many Mercury Dime collectors. Here is the earliest one I have, 1924.




BTW Jason, please post Bob's photos of that PL Mercury when you get it back.

 

From Heritage.

 

ltrain:
nice coin!

 

Wish it was mine.

Don't got coin like that. Pun intended.

 

Wow now that's a broken nose!

LeHigh I'll get some of mine from the bank next time I go and post them. It's not a lot but a few at least.

 

Broken nose dime

I am a new collector to all this, and I have this collection thats been in my family for 57 years. They have been in my colset for over 20 years, and I saw these broken nose dimes in thes pouches. I bought a book to inform me, but the book did not say anything about the broken nose dime. I never new what to look for, but now I do. Thanks for the info.

 

Wow, nice thread. I learned something today! Gotta start searching...thanx.

 

LeHigh say's your welcome even if he can't right now.

 

Broken nose and die crack combined BU

Last week I ordered 12 mixed date BU mercury dimes from a major dealer who advertises in most of the national publications. This 1941-S BU was in the mix obviously missed by their packagers and graders. I paid $14 for this and I think I got a pretty good deal.