Whats the deal with a 1945 P Dime?...I saw in a post...

..where someone wanted a 1945 P dime. What makes it so valuable? I don't see anything about it in the red book. What am I missing? Thanks, Jim

 

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is this one? http://cgi.ebay.com/1945-MS66-NGC-S...4QQihZ012QQcategoryZ41092QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

What is hard to find is one from that date with FSB.

Speedy

 

As others have pointed out, these coins are rare to be found fully struck on the reverse. However, the answer you your question "What makes it so valuable?" is a bit tougher to answer. Personally, I belive an inordinate amount of the value in these coins is artifical and tied to the fact that TPGs award a coin "FB" for the fully struck bands on the reverse, yet the obverse, or even other parts of the reverse could be flatly struck yet still be deemed to be "FB". So in short, people are paying (IMO, ridiculous) premiums for a subjective opinion on the strike strength of a single feature on the coin.

That being said and IIRC, the 45-P is the toughest to find like this, so there is certainly be a premium for a fully struck specimen, I'm just personally not comfortable with the amount of the premium...Mike

[edited for clarity]

 

Ok here are two of my best dug 1945 Ps. Am I a millionaire?

 

if you can sell it for a million then yes otherwise no

 

I don't think so
The diagonal bands holding the facases must be totaly split down the middle..

Speedy

 

Sorry for the confussion Jim C. I should have done a better job of explaining the rarity in the fully struck, split bands in the center of the fasces. My bad.
I wholly agree with the old adage, "buy the coin, not the grade". I wish I had the opportunity to examine a hand full of graded, FSB 45-P dimes so as to formulate a comparative opinion. I never will be able to do that. Are they over valued? If its your opinion that they are, then that's the opinion that matters the most in the decision to buy one. If you seperate the strike of the bands from the strike of the rest of the dime, then I can see how you may feel like it shouldn't command that kind of premium. That's a fair assessment.
I don't have the means to own one right now. But if money were not a consideration, I would not feel bad about adding one to my permanent collection at this level. It isn't going down anytime soon. Its the one coin I've stayed curious enough about to track over the last 18 years. It's not going to be found by the roll in somebody's hoard. They just aren't out there.

Rick L.

 

GDJMSP,

I have seen them, and I own one. Here it is (sorry for the terrible photo):




This coin exhibits weakness in the sprig on both sides of the faces, and also the upper crosswise band on the faces. On the obverse, Liberty is missing signficant hair and facial detail. Perhaps I'm mistaking die lapping (as evidenced by the plainly visible die polish on the reverse) and/or die erosion for weakness? I don't pretend to be an expert on the series, really only collecting them by type. In any event, this coin was graded 64 FB by NGC.

Regardless, I stand by my comments regarding the excessive premium paid for subjective opinons of third parties over strike -- it just seems silly to me that a coin with a 2% stronger strike in a particular area of the coin means it is worth 100%, 200%, or 1000% more than it's slightly weaker struck brother. Not that I condone coin investing, but it seems to me a great deal more long term value will be in a coin that is "almost fully struck but not good enough given today's grading standards".

Just my humble opinion, respectfully submitted...Mike

 

Leadfoot:
Wow, that is one great '45P!
Congratulations on a really scarce piece.
Nice find.

 

Has an S mint mark.. Not a P??

 

I wish it were a P mint coin. The coin above, as Jim C points out, is a San Francisco mint product....Mike

p.s. GDJMSP, you are welcome and thanks for the kind words.

 

Must be imagination. It does appear as an S but is secretly a P. Hey wait, there was no P on Merc dimes either. Not sure where people are looking but around here all Merc Dimes in the 40 to 45 range, in MS 60 or better are really common. I'm now up to 8 full sets all in AU to MS something or other. At coin shows around here it appears that Merc Dimes are like grains of sand. They are everywhere. I also have about 1,000 spare duplicate Mercury Dimes in 2x2's. A 45 P in any MS grade is just really to common. Now that stupid 45 Micro S is someting else. Some time ago I asked dealers why the 45's were so common in high grades. The answer was that so many people knew of the soon to be released thing called Roosevelt Dime so masive hoarding of Merc Dimes started and that is why so many in the 40 to 45 areas are so high in grades. This is also what happened to the 31D. It has the 4th lowest mintage and yet is not worth hardly anything due to the amount in new condition hoarded by people that knew of the low mintage and the depression made it easy to just not put that one in circulation.
I still like how the Mercury Dime is known as as the most common coin with a rotated reverse.

 

I agree that they are common in MS grades---but not with the FSB...

Speedy