What do you think? Hanging around a coin shop a few years ago I heard a guy tell this story: He said that at a recent coin show there was a bet between two dealers. The bet came about because one dealer was bragging that he had a full roll of bu 1916-d dimes. The other dealer called him a liar and the first dealer offered to bet the guy a grand that he could produce the roll the next day. They both gave a neutral person a thousand dollars. The next day the first dealer had a full bu roll of 1916-d dimes and won the thousand dollars. The person telling the story claimed to see and inspect the roll and said they were bu 1916-d dimes. The guy telling the story was making the point that many coins that we consider rare are in fact pretty common. The question is this: was this guy telling the truth of just spouting off? try to provide a reason for your answer. thanks
Well, I might say that most coins, no matter how rare today were common at one point. Hmmmm, 93-S Morgan? Never common. 16-D mercs? Yeah, they were fairly common in their day, which is why circ specimens are available, and rolls of MS are not. 264,000 mintage is not really really rare. Hmmmm, rushing off to buy all the 38-D walkers I can find.....
I will start off by saying “Yes”. I believe it is entirely possible for this to have have happened, just as you described. I knew of an old man that owned and operated as it’s President, the Weld County National Bank of Greeley, Co. while at the same time serving as an advisor to the U.S. Mint at Denver when it opened. He collected coins and had made it a habit to bring home a roll of most every denomination minted at Denver (especially the silver). I know he had both the 16D as well as the 21D Liberty head dime. There were also a bunch of rolls of very nice Barber dimes in his vault. He left the Mint in 1939 and handled all his collecting from his office at the bank. He passed away in 1958. His son had started working at the bank in 41 and he helped run the place until he retired in 1966. Up until the time he died in 1982 he built upon his fathers collection by trading coins he had for the ones needed to complete the collections. There for, a number of these rolls were used, or partially used to accomplish this task. The last time I looked there were still a few rolls and partial rolls remaining in storage. I do know that none of them are for sale or trade in the foreseeable future.
Old Dan.............. It`s like a hundred stories I have heard over the years. I`m not saying I don`t beleive you, it`s just I heard at least a hundred simular stories....
The next time I get my hands on a roll of uncirculated 1916-d dimes I'm going to do the same thing. It's a way to generate income without having to sell the coins. By the way, if the story is true, what do you think the roll would be worth at auction?
Hey, bz I can sure understand where you are coming from, and don't blame you one bit. I'm O.K. with your decision. I believe a realistic value of somewhere around 120K up to 150K would at least be in the ball park.
he very well could have been speaking as a "salesman" or a con-man some would call them to intrugue the audience in whom he was speaking with
This is not hard to believe at all. You can still buy BU rolls of Mercury dimes even today. All you have to do is ask for them - they're available.
The point that the guy was making was that many Barber dimes are far more rare than the 1916-d. I guess that that LIBERTY tends to get pretty worn down without much circulation, therefore some dates are not seen to often in ef+.
