I finally got around to picking up the key date, 1895-O, Barber Dime off of eBay. I now have the coin in hand and it completes my collection stored in my Dansco Album. Now to start working on upgrades! What do you all think of my new coin?
Looks like an honest AG-3 with a clear date and strong MM. That's the one coin I need to finish off my Dansco, congratulations!
Thanks everyone, I’m satisfied with this example for now, I’m just glad that album is complete. I spent a total of $246 on this coin, so I was also pretty happy about the price too. All these key dates are going up. The only Mercury dime I need is the 16-D. Only a couple years ago they were half the price they are now for G04 and lower examples (which is my price range).
An acquaintance of mine owns one of the two circulated examples of the 1894-S Barber Dime. What I find fascinating is that he has a letter to his father from Gimbel's Department store offering him the coin in the early 1950s for $800. He turned them down. In the 1980s early 1990s he bought the coin at auction for a little over $30,000.
I'm guessing that must be the "Gimbels Department Store" example, sold 03/89 by Bowers & Merena for $33000, G4. The auction catalog is archived at the Bowers auction site. It boggles the mind that this dime was still circulating in 1957 and gotten in change. Has your acquaintance ever allowed you to see it? Don't mean to distract from the thread.