Another noob question!

hockeyman1717

Well, i was learning a little bit about mercs, and i see there are things like FB and FBL, what do these mean?

nwcs

They are strike designations. Basically, areas of the coin that are struck better. In this case, FB means full band for mercury dimes (center band on torch) and full bell lines on the rev of a franklin half. Many of these coins did not have great strikes and so it is generally (but not always) true that coins with this designation are rarer than without. However, having this designation does not necessarily mean the coin was fully or well struck.

airplanenut

FB... full bands... the bands that go across the torch on the reverse need to be fully split... top, middle, and bottom.

Jeremy

nwcs

Also, reference this page for some more lingo.

XpipedreamR

If you look at the reverse of the Mercury dime, you will see three sets of horizontal bands. When the center set is fully separated, the bands are said to be fully split, FB or FSB.

On the Franklin half, on the reverse there are two sets of lines at the bottom of the bell. When the bottom set of lines is complete and distinct, PCGS calls it full bell lines or FBL. NGC, I believe, requires both sets of lines to be complete for this designation.

RGL

While I have some Mercs, this non-specialist wants to know ... can a coin grade FB when the center bundle on the fasces is split, but the top and bottom are not? This may be an impossibility, but just curious ...

hockeyman1717

Thanks for your help

coinguy1

Here is an old thread on FB Mercury dimes - hopefully, it will answer some of the questions raised here.

Link