No Way to Treat an 1865-S Dime
Aotearoa
Posts: 1,471 ✭✭✭✭✭
But I bought it anyway ($55). Why is it often the rare ones that get abused?
Smitten with DBLCs.
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Comments
Because the abused rare ones are still worth keeping ($55). If it was a common date worth melt it probably would not have been saved for you to see.
Very logical...
Smitten with DBLCs.
Ahh good ol' pre-1874 S-mint Seated coinage. Nearly all of it has been damaged, bent, cleaned, holed, soldered into buttons, soldered into buttons and re-engraved, or otherwise mutilated. Problem free, circulated, attractive examples are true treasures - and when they do show up you can throw away your price guide as it is completely useless for those coins. Seated collectors go wild and are many are willing to pay hefty premiums for nice ones.
Back in the days of the Old West and the California Gold Rush, San Francisco was a remote mint and this was the only small change in regular circulation out there for quite some time. So these coins circulated heavily, got made into jewelry, you name it. Very few were saved.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
Some folks see a damaged coin. I see an historic artifact.
I had a 12 sided 1864 that was VG details that still brought VG money at auction on ebay awhile back. I agree, the better dates do hang around, are more visible in a molested states, and seem to be a higher percentage of the surviving population.
I like the way the "5" is oversized compared to the 186.
peacockcoins
I would pay 55 for that any day….Super cool , quite scarce….love that stuff and it sells easily
I once bought a button obverse 1867-S half dime at my LCS for $25 and sold it on Ebay same day for $60. But that's only because it was a duplicate.
I was looking through 2x2s in a binder at the Portland PNNA (back when it was still an ANA show) and I saw the 1867-S I have now. It was damaged (of course), but had AU details and original mint luster (I think, lol). They were asking $30. Couldn't get the money out fast enough and it is one of my best half dimes.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
I knew looking at the thread title this would make me cry.
Such a shame to see coins of value with intentional damage. However, we must realize, that collectors are just a small percentage of the population. Most people only care about spending the coins. Some make jewelry, others just do things with them out of curiosity (coins on train tracks, making rings or necklaces or cuff links, shooting them). The vast majority has no clue about collector coins. Cheers, RickO
Now that i look at this coin again, i believe it may have been shot with a .22…
The metal is displaced on the reverse like it was! Plus if you were making a necklace it’s an odd place for a hole..
That's a BB sized hole. A 22 would be substantially bigger!