Merc Guys

tggr · February 20, 2002 7:35AM

The Kingswood sale has a 1944D Merc 68Fb.
How high do you think this dime will go??

Ray

Aaron04 · February 20, 2002 7:48AM

$750-$950 is my guess.

Aaron04 · February 20, 2002 7:49AM

Is it PCGS ? Does it have any spectacular toning / ugly toning / or just white ?

tggr · February 20, 2002 8:18AM

aaron,
that dime has splotches of green and blue.
Not really a pretty coin.

Ray

Mark · February 20, 2002 8:23AM

Ray:

I agree with your assessment of the coin's beauty. I especially don't like the apparent black splotches on the cheek and near the T on the obverse.

Mark

Fairlaneman · February 20, 2002 9:35AM

I'm a Tone Lover but that coin is UGLY

RELLA · February 20, 2002 10:58AM

Don't call that coin ugly until I'm no longer the high bidder!

RELLA

Aaron04 · February 20, 2002 11:21AM

Can someone put up a link to the 44 D ?

I just picked up a 1945 D PCGS MS67FB ex Joshua II for my registry set.

Joshua · February 20, 2002 11:53AM

Aaron: That 45-D is a very nice coin. I was able to buy a 45-D in NGC 68 and got it crossed when I took the set to PCGS.
The 44-D will probably go for about $ 1,000 in the Kingswood sale. There is another 44-D in 68 in this Sunday's teletrade auction which I had at one time which is a very bright white coin which might go for a little less than the other one and it is just as nice.

Aaron04 · February 20, 2002 12:07PM

Joshua,
Congratulations on the crossover,I have been successful with 67FB and under but never a 68FB.I have two NGC 68FB's that I couldn't cross so I cracked one ( 1938 S 68FB ) and sent it in.Sadly it came back 67FB,but its one of the nicest PCGS 67FB's I have laid eye's on.I just sent it in for a regrade so Im hoping it will hit 68FB.
Nice set by the way.

Joshua · February 20, 2002 1:19PM

Aaron: The 45-D took about six tries to get it in a PCGS 68. I also have a 38-S in 67FB that I have tried to upgrade several times. Even tried to submit it with another not as nice 67FB and couldn't get it upgraded. All you can do is to keep trying. The rewards of getting it into a 68FB are worth it. Good Luck Joshua

PTVETTER · February 20, 2002 9:06PM

I can't afford to buy a 68FB. My only chance is to buy one raw and get lucky!

I haven't been that lucky yet, but did get two 67FB

I guess I have had more good luck than bad, I have also had a few come back in body bags with hairlines which (I always miss)means cleaned

I send in most of my coins or get them from my wholesale friend slabbed. Good luck to all with these gem mercury dimes.

RELLA · February 21, 2002 12:05AM

Forget about the 1944-D Mercs; that same Teletrade auction has a 1934 in MS68FB...far more interesting. The estimate is $2400-$2800; is this realistic? It seems most of the Merc guys right now are shooting no higher than MS67FB for their collections.

RELLA

DeepCoin · February 21, 2002 1:44AM

Rella, many of us would love to chase MS68FB Mercs, but the reality of our economic condition makes us choose between a point here as opposed to how many others we could add to our collection for the difference. The chase for the highest grades is different from completing the set in grades we can afford. The Registry Set has both going on at the same time here.

And I cheer on the upgrades to the top sets! Nothing better than getting to see someone you know from the boards putting together a monster set that many of us would never be able to afford.

RELLA · February 21, 2002 2:26AM

DeepCoin;

Thanks for the reply...I understand the economics of building the best complete set one can afford versus the best incomplete set...I went through the same thing a few years ago when building a Lincoln set. I was just remarking that many of the Merc registry collectors on this board seem to be topping out their buying at MS67 vs. MS68 and wondering if this combined with the softness in prices when compared to other 20th century sets might make MS68FB Mercs a "relative" bargin. I truly don't know enough about this set yet to make my own judgements about this and would love more feedback. My thoughts on this remind me of having to make a choice between MS66RD and MS67RD Lincolns from the 20s...I settled for $150 MS66s instead of stretching for $450 MS67s...when it came time to sell my coins were $200 coins but MS67s were $1300 coins. If I were to venture into Mercs I am thinking that this might be the time to stretch and get a few MS68FB coins instead of buying up all the MS67FB ones I can get my hands on (a decidedly easier task and I'd have a far more complete set much sooner). I am already working on my "loss leader" CNS type set so I have been considering something else to work on in addition, and attepmting to find a set where I can wear my investor hat while still enjoying the joy of collecting. With the strength of Buffalo Nickels and Walking Halves my first impression is that Mercury Dimes might be the place for me to do just that. I'm not exactly long on money right now, so I wouldn't be able to just buy up every MS68 I could find, but maybe just getting a few in my hands now before relaxing my standards and working on completion would be the wise thing to do.

Any comments on this theory would be more than welcome.

RELLA

Mark · February 21, 2002 9:58AM

Rella:

You make a very interesting point about MS68FB coins. And, being an economist, I can readily appreciate your insight into the potential for rapid price appreciation of an MS68FB. Of course, past performance is not a sure indicator of future performance, and etc., but nonetheless your point is intriguing.

For myself, I think it unlikely I will go after an MS68FB. I guess at heart I am a collector and I hate--no, actually, despise--selling any of my coins. So, if I buy an MS68FB, perhaps my son or daughter inherits a bit more wealth but in the meanwhile I can buy fewer coins than if I continued buying "only" MS67's. Plus, the major reason I have opted to buy some MS67's is because I think I can generally see a difference between them and MS65's. I am not sure I would be able to see a real difference betwen an MS67 and MS68 except in my checkbook...

Mark

Fairlaneman · February 21, 2002 10:39AM

Personally at this stage of the game with My Set I cannot even justify buying a MS67 coin in the 40's. When all of the open hole's within the Set in the teen's,twenties and early thirties are filled and up-graded to My satisfaction then Maybe more attention will be paid to the forties.

Constantly My mind tells me that the Money paid for the High Grade 40's coins would be better spent on a MS65 teen's or twentie's coin.

Heck the Coin being discussed is a $750 to $1000 coin. A MS67FB 1916P is less than that and to Me more desireable.

Take Care: Ken

Joshua · February 21, 2002 1:19PM

Rella: I couldn't agree with you more about the 68's. About two years ago I saw 3 68's in an auction. All three went for the same price $ 855 each. I was able to sell each of them for $ 3000 -
$ 4000 each. If you look at the possibilities for them the upside potential is great. They are rare and could bring a good price when the time is right. I think now is the time to buy them when there is a lull in the action now. There is a 1939 Lincoln in 68 Rd up for auction tonight and I believe the internet bidding was in the $ 4000's.
I hate to say this but the 34 in the teletrade auction was mine a while ago (I sold a bunch of merc's for the 18P in 67). I paid $2200
for the 34 so if you can get it for around that price it would be a good deal. The coin is bright white and very attractive. If you can afford them stretch for any low pop 68 that you can get your hands on. Hope this helps. Joshua

quattrocoins · February 21, 2002 1:20PM

Hey Guys,

I've been working overtime to pay for a few MS67FBs that I just picked up. I got three 67FBs for the price of a "common" 68FB! Though my set will probably never be complete with m.s. coins, I'd rather have it 90% complete with ms64s - ms67s than 10% complete with ms68s.

Okay, Ken. I picked up a '41D and a '42D in MS67FB.

But where was your tone-lovin' a*$ when this '16 MS67FB went off? LOL!
I agree with you that it is very desireable!

I put a "marking" bid on it the first day, and was never topped. (I know that's a whole other thread

)
Now I'm lookin' for more overtime! LOL!

It's hard work keepin' up with you guys.
Good luck Aaron, on your upgrade.
Congrats Ken, on reaching #4.

Regards,

Don

MS68FBs and

Fairlaneman · February 21, 2002 4:22PM

Hey Don: My good Old Tone Loving A$$ had just bought a 18S in 65 from Heritage and a 23S in 64FB from GR Tiso so the Merc Fund is Depleted for a Little While.

By the way that is exactly the Coin I was refering too. Much more appeal to me than a 40's coin in 68.

Take Care: Ken

Mark · February 21, 2002 9:45PM

Quattro:

I think that your 1916 MS67FB coin is one butt ugly coin...largely because it, along with your other two new additions, will be the coin that pushes you past me in the registry list! More seriously, congratulations on your new coins--it is indeed a pleasure to see sets progressing and does help keep one on one's collecting toes.

For what it's worth, your approach to your dime set and mine tend to agree insofar as we apparently are going for quantity (with high quality) over ultra-high quality. But, after reading Joshua's comments about using Rella's strategy...well, I will have to think about how this sort of coin speculation can pay off in terms of being able to afford even more coins!

Mark

Mark · February 21, 2002 9:52PM

Joshua:

Thanks for the information about the 34 dime on Teletrade. I am a bit surprised that Teletrade didn't note that the coin belong to you at one time because I think that sort of pedigree would increase the coin's value. Speaking of coins pedigreed to you, although I have a general preference for "white" coins, the 25-D, which is pedigreed to you, is a beautiful coin! The toning on it is really pretty.

Also on the topic of the Teletrade auction, have you seen and do you have an opinion on the Stokely 45-P dime? I have a couple of coins that are ex-Stokely and they are exceedingly nice. (As you probably guessed, I'm also on the lookout for a coin or two that is ex-Joshua!)

Mark

RELLA · February 22, 2002 12:45AM

Well Guys;

Since my income can be a bit inconsistent (it looks like my next payday will be early next week instead of today as I had hoped) I won't be chasing the ex-Joshua 34 on Teletrade. I'm not too worried about the other MS68FB (the 44-D); from looking at the pop reports it seems that other examples of this date should still show up from time to time. I think my long term plans will be to wait for the 44-D and the 39-D in MS68FB, and not worry about any other MS68FB examples; as long as I consistently work to find nice MS67FB examples of other common dates I can just look to that as putting money down for eventual MS68FB purchases.

Thanks for all the advice so far; I'm sure I'll be back for more once I really get started. I think that this series has a nice time frame for getting involved right now, as any time you see retail price guides at as much as 3x sight unseen bid prices it is an opportunity, and that along with the community feeling among Merc collectors here on the boards is finding me looking forward to this endeavor.

One last note...now that I am no longer the high bidder on the 44-D in the Kingswood auction, I am willing to agree that it is not the prettiest coin I have seen.

You see, I was only "tracking" that coin with my bid.

RELLA

Joshua · February 22, 2002 12:07PM

Mark: I haven't seen the 45-P but I do know of some of Stokley's coins and they have always been high-end. Regarding the 34-P, there isn't a pedigree on the coin. I already had one and following my logic when this one came along I snapped it up. I lot of times I'll buy two of a coin to try to get one to upgrade by submitting them both. That's how I got my 1918-D in a MS-66FB holder. I know its expensive to do but the rewards can be great (really great with that one) and I will sell one of them right afterward anyway. One other thing for all the merc guys - don't discount NGC coins. Some of their prices are 1/4 of PCGS and think of the upside potential if it crosses.
What do you have to lose - the prices are cheap anyway so if it doesn't cross sell it. You can't lose too much and again the upside is tremendous. I mentioned before that both my 1916-p in MS-68 and 1945-D in MS-68FB came out of NGC holders.

python1 · February 22, 2002 12:56PM

Joshua,
That is the way I have started looking at the ngc, icg, and pci coins, which I have had a perfect record on crossing over icg coins. I have not been lucky enough to go up in grade, but did cross the same.Not bad in my books. I picked up a 17D anacs holder, I will try it also.
Thanks for the upbeat information.

Merc Guys

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