As I mentioned in another thread my grandfather gave me a bunch of mercury dimes (3-400) that he had just saved over the years for silver value. I decided instead of just sitting in my safe I would put them in a album so we could set them out and enjoy them and remember gramps! I haven't went through them all yet but started figure I might get 1/3 of them from these. Obviously condition is not great but some are pretty nice. What would be best way to get the rest? Just buy bunch in bulk for as close to melt as possible? Buy rolls somewhere? Obviously I will have to buy the few key dates.
@Farmergolf if there are coin shows or coin dealers in your area, make a list of the ones you need and find a dealer who has a big bowl of Mercs and have fun hunting. Buying rolls would tend to be expensive and frustrating.
There is no such thing as unsearched Mercury dime lots any more, so if you buy in bulk you'll just end up with hundreds of common 1940's dates, AG-3 junk, and culls. Best bet is to seek out the dates you need on auction sites, coin shows and shops, and sites like USACoinbook, etc. Good advice from Kentucky above.
You might have a lot of fun going through the dealers "junk" lot and might find some nice later date mercs. You might want to just start with a one-a-year set because the 1916D is on the expensive side.
I have been working on a set for over a year now. I have purchased from shows, ebay, Facebook groups, etc. I am down to 3 coins needed, the 21, 21D and 16D. The 21D and 16D I will buy slabbed.
I started my Mercury dime book in the 1990's. Didn't plug the last hole until maybe five years ago. I am with @Kentucky on this one. Most dealers will have plenty of average Mercs in 2X2 holders for you to plunder through. Maybe set aside twenty bucks a week, go see the dealer and plug a few holes each week. Buying in bulk won't assure you of anything more than a pile of Mercs to dispose of.
Buying bulk lots of “junk” dimes and searching through them might be a fun way to do it. It would almost be like doing it through circulation. Buy $10 face value at a time and fill as many holes as you can that way. Obviously you will have to buy the key dates and probably most of the better dates individually. You might also find a dealer that will let you sift through their junk bins and pick out specific dates for their current junk silver price, or close to it. They may charge you 11.5x face rather than 11x face, for example, for the opportunity to cherry pick the dates.
So I got up through 1929 sorted and looks like 37 holes up to that point and I have 21 filled so over 50% I am happy with that. I have tons of extra I am hoping lcs will let me trade my extra for ones I need for not much extra.
Here's what I would suggest which may be what you are already doing. 1) sort thru the 300 to 400 dimes and sort them by date and mint mark 2) pick the nicest coin by date and fill out your album. 3) from the remaining coins sort out the lowest grade non key date dimes and sell them for melt. 4) Use the melt dollars to purchase other coins to either fill out your book or start another set. 5) at this point all you should have remaining are the better grade dimes which you can now take your time to research their salable value if any otherwise sell them for melt. Remember it's not a race but a journey. Good luck
Before my LCS closed, he had a box of circulated Mercs, (and other coins, buffs, V nickels, etc. all in separate boxes) and you could just cherry pick through them at (1.50 or 2.00 each). I saw a couple of dinosaurs sitting with their Whitman's pulling out Mercs. As there were plenty of older coins with mint marks. No key dates, but plenty of hole fillers, and inexpensive. I agree with the other posters who mentioned this exact method. You can fill a lot of holes this way.
I've found many 21 and 21D mercs in junk bins over the years. Not all mercs are well sorted. The overdates are likely out there as well.
Got up through the 39. There are 50 holes and I have 37 filled so still well over half. I have way more in the forties to go through than any of the others so should do good in them also.
I started my Mercury Dime Set in 1965 and was able to fill it by 1966 (but still had to purchase coins from coin shows )
