Educational thread: 1945-S micro-s- Mercury dime. How to tell the difference between it and the no

wingedliberty

I thought I would share my passion for Merc dimes and this wonderful variety that I so enjoy. As everyone knows, this is my favorite series and I enjoy it beyond measure.
The series is not as abundant in die varieties as other series that are riddled with them, such as early copper, bust halves, and Lincoln cents. This makes the few powerful varieties such as the 42/1 & 42/1D as well as the few nice RPMS very desirable. There is serif differentiation between small and large mintmarks and there are some minor rpms within the series, but they are not abundant to say the least.
I will start off the series with letting everyone know that the micro -s- is about half the size of the regular large-S- and is perfectly symmetrical and is more "perfect" is its quality and crispness than the regular S, You wil also note that the regular -S- has this knob and ball curve at the lower serif, I tilted it so you can see it better. All 1945-S dimes are riddled with die cracks of varying severity with a concentration on the wing of liberty and also around the rims. So are also straight down the nose of Liberty bisecting the coin at 11:00. All micro-s example are about 5 times tougher in full bands than the regular counterparts and are worth substantial premiums. This is a very popular variety and I hope this helps others in their quest.
I have about 5 examples in my collection, 2 with full bands and 3 above MS65 in PCGS and NGC holders and all are wonderful.

1945-s micro-s NGC-66 pastel purple and aqua I just won this one on Ebay, so that brings the total to 6 examples in my collection
Also see the variety photos below.

LucyBop

Excellent info........ The 45s is a issue I've yet to tackle...... Its good to know what to expect in rarity with fb and in price......

The one you won looks very lovely... I'm willing to bet it will be even nicer in person, I love toners like that one....

Sounds like your building a nice little hoard of these Jewels....

If you buy all the nice 45s's, your gonna have to sell one to Lucille!

wingedliberty

The hepkitty is building a formidable collection and motivating me to do even better!

Fairlaneman

Here is the Micro S reverse for everyone. Can you believe this is not a FB coin ?



Ken

LucyBop

seems fb to me, I might send that one in for a re-grade or crack it and send in raw......

Blade

Ken,
No doubt if it looks like the pic, it is FB. Nice coin.

Fairlaneman

Its OK in the MS66 slab and I will get my money for it when it is sold. Toooooo many horror stories when crack outs are tried. I'm a big original style chicken when it comes to crack outs.

Ken

wingedliberty

Ken:
Its FB all day long, resub today!

LucyBop

then send in for regrade and you don't have to crack it.........

ok, you twisted my arm... I'll buy this ugly eyesore..... woe is me....

Fairlaneman

Can't sell here.....Sorry.

I think I'll hold on to it for awhile.

Ken

remumc

Great info Brian and timely too as I have been looking to add a micro-S in 66FB to my set.

Regards,

Wayne

LucyBop

if I bought a micro S.. (I ike that one better)

can I use this coin for the basic Registry set?

mgoodm3

mine's not quite as high grade but I like it. Not even close to FB.

wingedliberty

mgoodm3:
Excellent example. See how crisp and well defined the mint mark is. Its very symmetrical also. And it does not have that ball-knob serif curviture. The micro-s is nice and crisp and 50% smaller in size.

mgoodm3

It's kinda funny, when you see a big picture of the S it doesn't look all that small, but in real life you can hardly see the thing. It's becomes obvious how it got the name.

Fairlaneman

Side by side. Micro left side and regular right side.



Ken

mgoodm3

That's nice, the super close-ups don't show there realtion on the coin. Side-by-side the difference becomes more obvious.

wingedliberty

Ken(Fairlaine):
Excellent side by side and spacial relationship. A great supplement to my microphotos.

Thanks

wingedliberty

ttt

pmh1nic

Thanks for the excellent commentary and photographs.

Fairlaneman

Somebody at PCGS needs to get their eyes check. Those SB's are super sharp.

Tonelover

Thanks for the post. One other tidbit regarding the 45-S Micro S is that the mintmark punch used was actually made to impress the dies for the 1945-S Philippine 10 Centavos produced in San Francisco at the same time.

Merc

Nice pictures Farelaneman. You can really see the difference between the micro and regular S. How much tougher is it to find a micro S? I've never tried looking for one.

wingedliberty

Curt:
You can cherry them in plastic. Thats the fun part, alot of grading services miss them.

1jester

Nice thread, Brian. Thanks!

I bought a nice uncirculated Micro S about 13 years ago from Paul Sims, and only recently found out that it is in fact a regular S. Boy do I feel stupid.

wingedliberty

1Jester:
Don't feel stupid. You are not the first one to make that discovery about Paul Sims.