So you may remember that I hit the mother lode a few months ago finding six rolls of Mercury Dimes and Roosevelt Silver dimes at work. It just took me until the other day to scan/log each coin into my database. During the initial entry process I gave them a base grade (based on my amateur eye comparing to PCGS). Now that the holidays are over (I work in retail), and I can actually feel my soul again I have begun looking at the coins to do a more thorough grading. What grades would you give the coins below, and why? I am looking for your opinions to help me gage my thoughts. I know people would say just use the PCGS Photograde feature, however there is a large gap in available photos to grade some areas, and I'm looking more for your insights into their potential grades. TIA! 1950 1956 1963 1964
I don't believe any of those are coins you should pay to have graded. They are all in melt condition. However, they're all great to put into a Whitman Roosevelt dime book. That's one heck of a find. Very nice they fell into your hands. Congrats.
Oh - sorry - I didn't mention this in my original post. I am not looking to get them graded officially. Just for me to estimate possible value based on non-official grading. Sorry I didn't make that clear.
I'm not a grader but in my opinion the grade does not matter on those. They all look circulated with minor issues. Neat finds though. I posted this recently of all my Metal Detected Silver Roosevelt Dimes from the past 14 years.
The best help I will give you is for you to use PCGS Photo grade and give us your best answer. Then we can discuss our opinions. I checked photo grade and your dimes should be very easy to grade. I give you a starting hint - lower than AU. Give it a try...
Again, congrats on your windfall! For the vast majority of your coins (I'm assuming there might be an exception or two), they are not even worth taking the time to determine a grade on your own, let alone getting someone else's help doing it, if you hope to squeeze more profit our of your treasure. Those coins would almost certainly be bought as 90% silver, and not as collectibles. Therefore, your financial return on any additional time invested in grading them would be negative. If, however, you are doing this for satisfaction, have at it. Learning to grade a series well cracks the door to being able to do it for other series too. Since your coins all appear to be circulated, I recommend using Ruddy's Photograde.
When evaluating most of the collection - my base grade for almost 95% of them was a G4 at best. There are a handful that would break the F/XF barrier - but that would be few and far between. As I said - none of these are things I would consider professional grading on, just my own personal grading estimate.
I think the ones you show are better than G4; the first few look to be in the VF range and the last two in the XF-AU range. Like others have mentioned, it doesn't really matter in terms of value as it takes a high MS grade for most Roosevelt dimes to have a premium above what 90% silver currently trades for. But it is a fun exercise to test your grading skills.