I'm trying to figure out what you are attempting to show us. The mark below DIME is not a mint mark obscured by a hit, it's just damage, all 1885-S dimes have the S below the wreath. What looks almost like the shadow of a mint mark below the wreath is almost certainly not. At this wear level, the mint mark would still likely be mostly, if not entirely visible. If you would like a answer with proof though, I would need a picture of the obverse. Jesse
It looks like damage and it looks like someone scratched an s under the wreath either way it's not an 1885 - s
Last time I was in one of my local coin shops he had an 1885-S dime roll through the door. He had me look at it to make sure it was an 1885(AG/G) and it was.... he bought it for $75. I asked how much he'd sell it to me for, said he was going to take it to the big show down state and get top dollar. I sent him a message after the show and asked if he still had it, he said no he sold it for, he said $175.... I find that hard to believe. Last one I seen on eBay was scratched and it sold for over $400 Thing that I don't understand, if you have a regular customer coming in all the time spending a nice deal of money everytime they walk in, you get a coin in, I offer to buy the coin and can flip it quick to a regular customer, why would you want to wait to make an extra $20-30- assuming he actually sold it for $175(gas would have been more than this) instead of keeping a regular customer happy.... last time I was in there I spend over $500 on silver and coins.... Don't know if I'll be heading back into his shop after that.
