RARE 1916D MERCURY DIME

got close... 1916 merc... pulled out the ground as is 2 weeks ago from a "picked over" park no less (two old timers told me not to waste my time there)... FB but sadly no "D"... i figure it's worth 10 bucks...

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ANACS should grade your coin - They will just mark on the ticket inside that it was cleaned. NGC & PCGS will send the coin back in a "body bag" meaning if its been cleaned or altered they wont even slab it. Nice find regardless if you send it in or not. Ron
 

Cleaned AND nicked twice. For shame. I think finding another method of coin retrieval is a must. You likely won't get another chance at recovering a 1916-D Merc, and most of us never will. I have seen so many cleaned or nicked silver coins on this site. This is really unfortunate, and it means that we should all be better educated. After all, what better use for a forum like this?

The three cardinal rules of silver coins should really be:

1) Resist the urge to rub the dirt off to see what you've found! There is plenty of time to check a find out at home later. Like the capped bust coin above, coins in high grades can be slaughtered by rubbing them with your hands/sleeves/blue jeans since the surfaces of them are so mirror-like.

2) ABSOLUTELY NO CHEMICAL CLEANERS!

3) Only hard running water to whisk away dirt (perhaps even an overnight soak to loosen it first) and AT MOST a camel's hair brush to lightly and gingerly "tease" the dirt off the surface of the coin.

I should really include a fourth rule, but this one is common sense. If you are scratching the clad you unearth, you will probably do the same thing to your nice coin finds. I watched in horror as a friend chopped a high-grade Seated Liberty Half Dollar in two with a shovel once. The patience to be careful even when the blood is pumping is a must.

Last of all, if the coin is still dirty after a stint under swift running water (with the drain plugged!!), go to numismatist for advice.

I really hope this helps, and happy hunting to you all!


-BuckleBoy
 

When I was a kid, a friend of mine had a slot machine in his basement that belonged to his mom.
I was already into coin collecting (wheatbacks), and the slot machine was from the 40s. It had a small window on the front so you could see the coins inside....good lord it was crammed solid with Mercury dimes.

I REALLY wished I could have had access to what was in that slot machine.

And I knew nothing about 1916-D dimes. ;D
 

BuckleBoy said:
Cleaned AND nicked twice. For shame. I think finding another method of coin retrieval is a must. You likely won't get another chance at recovering a 1916-D Merc, and most of us never will. I have seen so many cleaned or nicked silver coins on this site. This is really unfortunate, and it means that we should all be better educated. After all, what better use for a forum like this?

The three cardinal rules of silver coins should really be:

1) Resist the urge to rub the dirt off to see what you've found! There is plenty of time to check a find out at home later. Like the capped bust coin above, coins in high grades can be slaughtered by rubbing them with your hands/sleeves/blue jeans since the surfaces of them are so mirror-like.

2) ABSOLUTELY NO CHEMICAL CLEANERS!

3) Only hard running water to whisk away dirt (perhaps even an overnight soak to loosen it first) and AT MOST a camel's hair brush to lightly and gingerly "tease" the dirt off the surface of the coin.

I should really include a fourth rule, but this one is common sense. If you are scratching the clad you unearth, you will probably do the same thing to your nice coin finds. I watched in horror as a friend chopped a high-grade Seated Liberty Half Dollar in two with a shovel once. The patience to be careful even when the blood is pumping is a must.

Last of all, if the coin is still dirty after a stint under swift running water (with the drain plugged!!), go to numismatist for advice.

I really hope this helps, and happy hunting to you all!


-BuckleBoy
Click to expand...

In my opinion, you are absolutely correct. I know many will debate this issue, but I agree that the best way to devalue a coin is to scratch it and/or clean it. If it's worth less than $5 or $10, I'd probably go ahead and clean it. Worth any more than that and I'd try to leave it alone beyond very carefully cleaning off the dirt. I know how hard it is to resist the urge to clean a silver coin. Just my humble opinion.
 

rwsnc said:
BuckleBoy said:
Cleaned AND nicked twice. For shame. I think finding another method of coin retrieval is a must. You likely won't get another chance at recovering a 1916-D Merc, and most of us never will. I have seen so many cleaned or nicked silver coins on this site. This is really unfortunate, and it means that we should all be better educated. After all, what better use for a forum like this?

The three cardinal rules of silver coins should really be:

1) Resist the urge to rub the dirt off to see what you've found! There is plenty of time to check a find out at home later. Like the capped bust coin above, coins in high grades can be slaughtered by rubbing them with your hands/sleeves/blue jeans since the surfaces of them are so mirror-like.

2) ABSOLUTELY NO CHEMICAL CLEANERS!

3) Only hard running water to whisk away dirt (perhaps even an overnight soak to loosen it first) and AT MOST a camel's hair brush to lightly and gingerly "tease" the dirt off the surface of the coin.

I should really include a fourth rule, but this one is common sense. If you are scratching the clad you unearth, you will probably do the same thing to your nice coin finds. I watched in horror as a friend chopped a high-grade Seated Liberty Half Dollar in two with a shovel once. The patience to be careful even when the blood is pumping is a must.

Last of all, if the coin is still dirty after a stint under swift running water (with the drain plugged!!), go to numismatist for advice.

I really hope this helps, and happy hunting to you all!


-BuckleBoy
Click to expand...

In my opinion, you are absolutely correct. I know many will debate this issue, but I agree that the best way to devalue a coin is to scratch it and/or clean it. If it's worth less than $5 or $10, I'd probably go ahead and clean it. Worth any more than that and I'd try to leave it alone beyond very carefully cleaning off the dirt. I know how hard it is to resist the urge to clean a silver coin. Just my humble opinion.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your response, rwsnc. If one uses the method described above, there is very little chance of leaving hairline "whizz" marks on the coin. And any of the major grading services will slab it for you. I never field-clean anything. No spit-cleaning. No rubbing on the jeans or grinding the dirt into the face of the coin with the fingers. If I can't see the date, then I'm not certain I have a common year and mintmark yet. Best to leave it alone. I also don't like to clean my common date silvers either. I know many on this forum do. Let's do the math... If I find 500 common date Mercury dimes by the time old age keeps me from detectin', then these should be worth $1 to $3 apiece (using today's prices--these won't go up dramatically in price). If I field clean them all, not only do I risk damaging a 1942 overdate, 1916-D, or the scarcer 1921 coins, but I also have lowered the value of every single one of the coins to just over silver content. Due to the quantity coins I have unearthed, my collection has become much less valuable. And that's just the Mercury Dimes...

All the Best,

Buckleboy
 

Nice coin Swanie!! Not only to find one of those but to find two of them is unheard of...My buddy just found one one of those in fine or extra fine condition. I told him it is a find of a lifetime. We were hunting a church yard when he found his. Congrats.
 

unreal two 1916 d dimes -- since you got two sell the lesser one and keep the better one --- take it easy -- use a poly type digger towel to avoid the damage -- ouch those nicks really hurt on goodies like that and cost you some serious $$$ too --- Ivan
 

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