GTG - 1921-D Mercury Dime

mikee999

alaura22

G06

Cladiator

Manifest_Destiny

8

Tramp

VG08

Walkerguy21D

VG 8 also, and wholesome.

Allentram

G6.

erwindoc

10

ricko

Looks like an 8 to me.... Cheers, RickO

mikee999

sellitstore

It used to be a G4 because the rim on the back was not complete. Now I think that they call these G6. G6 were only for full rims at one time. But that was 40 years ago. I don't agree with "them". Fine? I should give myself a LOL.

mikee999

@sellitstore said:
It used to be a G4 because the rim on the back was not complete. Now I think that they call these G6. G6 were only for full rims at one time. But that was 40 years ago. I don't agree with "them". Fine? I should give myself a LOL.

not only that but what was CAC thinking? It must have been stickered on 02/29/2023??

rte592

Fine Grade as in Excellent job adding the mintmark??
Let's just say that coin has almost perfect wear or (for) an alteration.

mikee999

@rte592 said:
Excellent job adding the mintmark??
Let's just say that coin has almost perfect wear or (for) an alteration.

does not look like an added mm to me. it’s looks like a genuine 21-d merc.

Walkerguy21D

@sellitstore said:
It used to be a G4 because the rim on the back was not complete. Now I think that they call these G6. G6 were only for full rims at one time. But that was 40 years ago. I don't agree with "them". Fine? I should give myself a LOL.

Agree. The obverse looks Fine-ish, and that was my initial impression, but the reverse with the incomplete rim immediately knocked the grade down in my thinking. But the pros all thought differently.

BuffaloIronTail

@Walkerguy21D said:

@sellitstore said:
It used to be a G4 because the rim on the back was not complete. Now I think that they call these G6. G6 were only for full rims at one time. But that was 40 years ago. I don't agree with "them". Fine? I should give myself a LOL.

Agree. The obverse looks Fine-ish, and that was my initial impression, but the reverse with the incomplete rim immediately knocked the grade down in my thinking. But the pros all thought differently.

Could this be another example of the new tendency to assign grades due to "overall wear"?

Pete

keyman64

Since Mercury Dimes seem to be my thing, I will chime in here.
Rather than relying on memory, I also cracked out a grading book that I recommend: Coin World's CoinValues "Making The Grade" - A Grading Guide to the top 50 most widely collected US Coins. The book is in color, unlike the ANA books of the past.

The obverse falls into the F12 realm. I do not like the light scratches but it still doesn't change things.
The reverse falls into the G6 realm. There's zero wiggle room, it's clearly a G6 reverse.

It is like this for low grade coins sometimes and this is what leads to net grading. For this reason, I would grade this coin VG8 and not have any problem backing up this claim. That said, opinions are like...everyone has one. It just so happens that the grading book I have in front of me right now agrees with me!

The fact that it has a CAC sticker means nothing to me. This is a low grade coin and I feel that PCGS/CAC cares less about these things. There's technical grading and then there's market grading. We have seen market grading take over in the last 20+ years. The obverse is of higher quality and PCGS/CAC let the reverse slide.

mikee999

@keyman64 said:
Since Mercury Dimes seem to be my thing, I will chime in here.
Rather than relying on memory, I also cracked out a grading book that I recommend: Coin World's CoinValues "Making The Grade" - A Grading Guide to the top 50 most widely collected US Coins. The book is in color, unlike the ANA books of the past.

The obverse falls into the F12 realm. I do not like the light scratches but it still doesn't change things.
The reverse falls into the G6 realm. There's zero wiggle room, it's clearly a G6 reverse.

It is like this for low grade coins sometimes and this is what leads to net grading. For this reason, I would grade this coin VG8 and not have any problem backing up this claim. That said, opinions are like...everyone has one. It just so happens that the grading book I have in front of me right now agrees with me!

The fact that it has a CAC sticker means nothing to me. This is a low grade coin and I feel that PCGS/CAC cares less about these things. There's technical grading and then there's market grading. We have seen market grading take over in the last 20+ years. The obverse is of higher quality and PCGS/CAC let the reverse slide.

a few maybe many collectors (myself included) will never chase a coin that has been “market graded.”

keyman64

@mikee999 said:

@keyman64 said:
Since Mercury Dimes seem to be my thing, I will chime in here.
Rather than relying on memory, I also cracked out a grading book that I recommend: Coin World's CoinValues "Making The Grade" - A Grading Guide to the top 50 most widely collected US Coins. The book is in color, unlike the ANA books of the past.

The obverse falls into the F12 realm. I do not like the light scratches but it still doesn't change things.
The reverse falls into the G6 realm. There's zero wiggle room, it's clearly a G6 reverse.

It is like this for low grade coins sometimes and this is what leads to net grading. For this reason, I would grade this coin VG8 and not have any problem backing up this claim. That said, opinions are like...everyone has one. It just so happens that the grading book I have in front of me right now agrees with me!

The fact that it has a CAC sticker means nothing to me. This is a low grade coin and I feel that PCGS/CAC cares less about these things. There's technical grading and then there's market grading. We have seen market grading take over in the last 20+ years. The obverse is of higher quality and PCGS/CAC let the reverse slide.

a few maybe many collectors (myself included) will never chase a coin that has been “market graded.”

I would not recommend that practice either. For this coin though, I would not have paid more than VG8 money for it (not price guide money), had I been in the market for one. I think this coin was market graded for the obverse and the reverse was largely ignored beyond a quick glance to check for obvious damage. The reverse passed the damage check and it got the grade for the obverse. I can only guess CAC likely did the same thing.

mikee999

@keyman64 said:

@mikee999 said:

@keyman64 said:
Since Mercury Dimes seem to be my thing, I will chime in here.
Rather than relying on memory, I also cracked out a grading book that I recommend: Coin World's CoinValues "Making The Grade" - A Grading Guide to the top 50 most widely collected US Coins. The book is in color, unlike the ANA books of the past.

The obverse falls into the F12 realm. I do not like the light scratches but it still doesn't change things.
The reverse falls into the G6 realm. There's zero wiggle room, it's clearly a G6 reverse.

It is like this for low grade coins sometimes and this is what leads to net grading. For this reason, I would grade this coin VG8 and not have any problem backing up this claim. That said, opinions are like...everyone has one. It just so happens that the grading book I have in front of me right now agrees with me!

The fact that it has a CAC sticker means nothing to me. This is a low grade coin and I feel that PCGS/CAC cares less about these things. There's technical grading and then there's market grading. We have seen market grading take over in the last 20+ years. The obverse is of higher quality and PCGS/CAC let the reverse slide.

a few maybe many collectors (myself included) will never chase a coin that has been “market graded.”

I would not recommend that practice either. For this coin though, I would not have paid more than VG8 money for it (not price guide money), had I been in the market for one. I think this coin was market graded for the obverse and the reverse was largely ignored beyond a quick glance to check for obvious damage. The reverse passed the damage check and it got the grade for the obverse. I can only guess CAC likely did the same thing.

imho, this coin has two strikes against it; the third strike is the buyer who bought it & to a less extent the auction co ( money talks), 4th strike? Someone should’ve punted this coin prior to bidding/buying.

mikee999

I would grade this coin based on the rev, ag+, (hope this is not a banable comment), but what do I know.

NumisOxide

Was going to say VG8

rodepetdinosaur

@mikee999 said:

@keyman64 said:
Since Mercury Dimes seem to be my thing, I will chime in here.
Rather than relying on memory, I also cracked out a grading book that I recommend: Coin World's CoinValues "Making The Grade" - A Grading Guide to the top 50 most widely collected US Coins. The book is in color, unlike the ANA books of the past.

The obverse falls into the F12 realm. I do not like the light scratches but it still doesn't change things.
The reverse falls into the G6 realm. There's zero wiggle room, it's clearly a G6 reverse.

It is like this for low grade coins sometimes and this is what leads to net grading. For this reason, I would grade this coin VG8 and not have any problem backing up this claim. That said, opinions are like...everyone has one. It just so happens that the grading book I have in front of me right now agrees with me!

The fact that it has a CAC sticker means nothing to me. This is a low grade coin and I feel that PCGS/CAC cares less about these things. There's technical grading and then there's market grading. We have seen market grading take over in the last 20+ years. The obverse is of higher quality and PCGS/CAC let the reverse slide.

a few maybe many collectors (myself included) will never chase a coin that has been “market graded.”

I agree. I said VG 8 before I scrolled down to show the holder. I definitely don't understand the CAC sticker.

keyman64

Okay Okay Okay...I do not know everything and this may be a demonstration of that.
After speaking to someone else, here is an alternative opinion that seems sound to me.

Obverse is Fine 12 as has been mentioned. The issue is with the reverse.
If you draw a horizontal line through the middle of the coin, the top half can pass as Fine 12 with half the sticks visible, among other things. The bottom half of the coin looks Good 6 to me but I am told that is too large of a spread on one side of the coin to be attributed to just wear...so the answer is related to a poor strike on the bottom half of the reverse.

With 3/4 of the coin passing as F12, the remaining portion is viewed as made...a strike issue. It is a F12 with poor strike on the lower reverse.

Now, does a poorly struck coin on the lower reverse deserve a sticker? Without any major issues and with the grade more heavily weighted with the obverse...maybe?

With so many examples that exist, would I buy this F12 example? No.

This was an interesting Sunday Discussion.

mr1931S

I think it's VG but F12 (CAC). No way. Those rims need to be full for F. CAC?