Extreme Details On Mercury Dime

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by Agilmore01, Jun 5, 2014.

  1. Agilmore01

    Agilmore01 Well-Known Member

    Was looking through some coins and noticed this 1917 Mercury with some exception details front and back. The surfaces look a little weird to me, but the detail in the hair and torch are exceptional. There is some damage on the obverse rim though. Is this amount of detail typical of older Mercurys? I have a 1938 Mercury graded MS67 that doesn't have near this sharp detail. [​IMG][​IMG]
     
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  3. C-B-D

    C-B-D Well-Known Member

    Date looks lopsided and the digits out of place. Makes me think "counterfeit" at first glance but hopefully I'm ridiculous and wrong. Not my series, after all...
     
  4. dimeguy

    dimeguy Dime Enthusiast

    I am fairly certain the font is wrong on the reverse (looks too thin to me) and the olive leaves look too thick. The field just doesn't look right. I'm sorry, but I second the counterfeit opinion. Got the weight of it by chance?
     
  5. carboni7e

    carboni7e aka MonsterCoinz

    I don't think it's counterfeit.
    Looks a little odd but that may be because it's seen some acid or been dipped to holy hell. Also, the image is taken at an angle which skews some features of the coin.
     
  6. Tom B

    Tom B TomB Everywhere Else

    It's real. The early Mercs had better details on the Philly coins than many of the later pieces.
     
  7. Agilmore01

    Agilmore01 Well-Known Member

    Can't weigh it. Don't have a scale.
     
  8. doug444

    doug444 STAMPS and POSTCARDS too!

    I'm concerned about the open 9 in the date. Here's a 1936 for comparison, best AU/BU I could find:

    C459 Mercury dime.jpg
     
  9. carboni7e

    carboni7e aka MonsterCoinz

    1917's have an open 9
     
  10. doug444

    doug444 STAMPS and POSTCARDS too!

    OK, thanks.
     
  11. Mainebill

    Mainebill Bethany Danielle

    Surface looks odd on the obverse almost looks to have a bit of a wire rim too except where it's gouged away looks like they really nailed the strike wicked full bands
     
  12. Agilmore01

    Agilmore01 Well-Known Member

    I am curious about the orange peel texture on the surface.

    Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
     
  13. Mike1487

    Mike1487 New Member

    I would say counterfeit. After staring at a real 1917 MS64 merc for a while, I notice some subtle differences. The most obvious is the back of the neck. For the one in this post the back of the neck is pretty straight with only a slight curve towards the bottom. The real one flares out more.

    If it is counterfeit, that's one of the most detailed I've seen.
     
  14. Agilmore01

    Agilmore01 Well-Known Member

    Does anyone have any opinions on the orange peel texture all over the obverse? Is this normal, or a tip off to something bad?

    Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
     
  15. Numismat

    Numismat World coin enthusiast

    I don't think it's fake either. The orange peel texture could be caused by acid exposure, as someone earlier suggested may have happened to this coin.
     
  16. thetracer

    thetracer Active Member

    Orange peel looks can be caused by late state dies being used.
     
  17. Agilmore01

    Agilmore01 Well-Known Member

    But would a late state die show this much detail all over or would it look worn also?
     
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