I've got rolls of dimes from my grandpa. 10 of them look off center. (By less than 5%, most likely) One has an edge that's too high, and thick, compared to average circulated dimes. One is all scratched up. Is there a way to tell if it was a person’s fault or a mint error?
Not really no. That's why folks always ask for pics. Written explanations are so easily misunderstood that even if we explained it to you it likely wouldn't do you any good. For example the dime with the edge that is too high & thick. If I told you that it could be due to a couple of reasons - one of them the result of minting called finning and the other the result of manmade damage would that help you much ? About the only way there is to describe finning is that the edge of the coin is higher and thicker than normal. And that's how you described it. But you can also describe a coin that has been spooned (manmade damage) as having an edge that is higher and thicker. See what I mean ? But if you were to show a picture of the coin - we would know the difference in an instant - and then so would you.
It appears you have a minor horizontal misalignment of the obverse (hammer) die. Very common in dimes.
