Are these Luster breaks on my Mercury Dime?
Rubicon
Posts: 201 ✭✭✭
Are the shiny polished areas by the L and Y in Liberty considered breaks in the satiny luster or contact marks. Please give me your best opinion. Thanks 
Best Answer
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Rubicon
Posts: 201 ✭✭✭
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
@Rubicon said:
Lance if it was pmd wouldn’t it probably show on the high points such as the cheek or hair.etc.!nah. pmd can be anywhere, inconsistent and confusing at times. it means post-mind damaged and literally anything can cause it. it just means something that has contacted/affected the coin after it has left the mint. a nail, dropping the coin, cleaning it, staple scratch etc etc etc.
the new images suggest it is probably from the mint. die polish or contact from other coins.
Okay thanks for your best guess as to it’s cause. Hope it was die polish and not coin to coin regular contact
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Answers
anything that breaks the luster should be consider a luster break whether it be pmd, contact from other coins or dies at the mint, die polishing, etc.
generally luster breaks are referred to for the difference between a high au to unc that come from cabinet friction, rub, light circ etc.
your coin has most likely contact marks of some sort. images are a little fuzzy. you may see flashy metal around the devices on merc as well from severe die polishing. die polishing tends to give more of a prooflike appearance than restoring luster-giving properties to the die.
Thanks for your response. If this occurred at the mint from die polishing would it lower the grade the same as if it were contact marks from coin contact in a roll. Luster is off the charts giving me the impression it is from an original roll as the seller had a few dimes of the same dates blazing look and all ms65 or 66
the grade shouldn't be affected the same from mint polishing as pmd but even though pcgs address is in california, i'm pretty sure they actually grade coins in the bermuda triangle, so there is that.
the images are just not sharp enough for me to determine if it is die polish or pmd.
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Lance if it was pmd wouldn’t it probably show on the high points such as the cheek or hair.etc.!
nah. pmd can be anywhere, inconsistent and confusing at times. it means post-mind damaged and literally anything can cause it. it just means something that has contacted/affected the coin after it has left the mint. a nail, dropping the coin, cleaning it, staple scratch etc etc etc.
the new images suggest it is probably from the mint. die polish or contact from other coins.