Anyone know the story of the 1892-0 Specimen Dime on TT?

DMWJR

I can't find any info on this one.


LINK TO AUCTION

Placid

A branch mint specimen thats odd.

kranky

Nothing in Breen's Encyclopedia about it.

DMWJR

Bid's at $17.5k. That must be the reserve. This maybe a preview before it goes to a big auction.

MrEureka

Heritage 3/23/03 at $9775 total.

coinguy1

It looks to be this identical coin, which sold for $9775 in the March 2003 Heritage sale.

Edited to add: I see Andy beat me to it.





Edited to add: Here is the description from that sale:


"We have only seen one other Specimen 1892-O Dime, and that was more than six years ago in our 1997 FUN Sale. That coin was uncertified and yet it was still convincing enough to bring roughly twice what a regular MS64 coin would be worth. There were 3,841,700 Dimes produced in New Orleans in 1892. While there is no record of presentation strike Dimes being struck, there is a listing in Breen's proof encyclopedia (1977) of a branch mint proof 1892-O Dollar, suggesting the possibility that at least one set of all the denominations could have been struck. The only reason we can think of for striking such coins in 1892 is to commemorate the passing of the old Seated design and the initial year of Charles Barber's design used on the Dime, Quarter, and Half Dollar.
The fields on this piece are deeply mirrored with complete reflectivity all the way to the rims and no fadeaway around the devices. The design elements are crisply defined and rise sharply above the even, glassy fields. The surfaces are covered with a light, hazy, gray-lilac tone that reveals faint traces of rose coloration beneath. There are no obvious or distracting contact marks on either side; and in fact, both the obverse and reverse show hardly any abrasions, which is what one would expect from a proof or specimen striking. Business strikes, as we well know, show microscopic evidence of coin-to-coin contact. This coin represents a rare opportunity to acquire a certified branch mint proof striking."

MrEureka

It looks to be this identical coin, which sold for $9775 in the March 2003 Heritage sale.

Mark - You have a helluva memory!

DMWJR

Do you guys know if this is really a branch mint proof?

coinguy1

Actually, Andy, sometimes I do, for special coins, at least. Edited to add: But so do many others.

When I saw this thread, I remembered the previous offering and who purchased it back then, etc., so I looked it up and found it.

coinguy1

Doug, it certainly looked different from typical business strikes. Beyond that, without "proof" (pun intended) or documentation / verification, it and many other "Specimens" will likely always be a matter of some speculation / conjecture.

DMWJR

Probably just somebody at the mint with too much time on their hands -- and left us this puzzler.

Coinosaurus

There are a couple 1891-O proof quarters as well (last year of the seated design). So, perhaps some New Orleans coins were minted to commemorate the end (or beginning) of the designs.

STEWARTBLAYNUMIS

This is the NGC coin who called it a specimen.I bought the PCGS coin for $2,600 in a Long Beach auction.Pissed off because PCGS called it ms 64 I sent my coin to NGC.The incompetants there called it Artificial colored.That was the last time I sent a coin to NGC.

There is also an 1893 o that is more proof like.Andy use to own the coin.Its in a PCGS ms 68 holder.I also own the PCGS 1894 O Proof Like Barber dime that is presently in an ms 66 holder.I believe all these coins came out of the Winthrop sale conducted by Bowers and Ruddy from 1975.

stewart blay

BigE

Seems like a couple of years ago you could get some good deals on Tele., I know I did, maybe now there are fewer consignments with reasonable reserves from non-dealer sellers--------------------------BigE