Anyone have any experience with SEGS-graded Mercury dimes?

39Special

I've never purchased a SEGS graded coin, but am considering it. Does anyone out there have any opinion/experience with how SEGS grades Mercury dimes? Many thanks in advance.

lordmarcovan

Zilch.

I used SEGS some around the millennium. They could be a bit liberal but nothing like the "Axis of Evil" you-know-who companies. For a third-tier service, I rather liked them.

Just don't expect anybody to accept them in today's market. It's really starting to look like the Big Two have become dominant and the second- (not to mention third-) tier services are withering away, though I could be wrong.

I would trust SEGS for authentication. I wouldn't always trust them to note problems like cleaning or AT.

robkool

I've never owned a segs graded Merc dime, but I once owned a Morgan dollar in a segs (MS63). It was blast white & appeared to have been dipped. The mint luster was rather weak. The grade itself was very accurate tho...

Frankcoins

Bill Fivaz grades Mercury Dimes for SEGS

Began collecting coins in 1950
Life Member ANA, CONECA, GNA, FUN, Commemorative Society
Member of Liberty Seated Coin Club, Love Token Society, NLG, Lincoln Cent Collectors Club
Specializing in Buffalo Nickels, Mercury Dimes, Morgan & Peace Dollars, Errors and Varieties, Hobo Nickels, Love Tokens, & Commemoratives
Served on ANA Board of Governors
ANA Farran Zerbe Award 1995
ANA Medal of Merit (1984 & 1980)
Numismatic Ambassador Award (1982)
ANA Summer Seminar Instructor (Grading) each year since 1980
Educational Forum speaker at FUN Convention each year since 1979
Consultant for ANACS
Frequent speaker at various national, regional, and local numismatic meetings
Co-author of The Cherrypickers' Guide
Author of frequent articles in various numismatic publications & Bill Fivaz's Counterfeit Detection Guide
Contributor to various numismatic related YN Programs
Contributor to the Red Book including co-authorship of the Mint Error section in the 1980 and subsequent issues
Contributor to the VAM Book
Frequent exhibitor at various shows with many Best of Show and First Place Awards

coinguy1

Are you a competent grader? If so, how SEGS graded Mercury Dimes, in general, should be of no consequence. What counts is the actual one you are considering. And if not, don't buy it, unless a competent grader can screen it for you.

39Special

This is an online purchase and the pictures are decent but in no way something I could "photo grade." Looks like a nice coin but have no idea whether or not it merits the assigned grade. If I had it in hand, I'd know in a matter of seconds. I was just wondering if any out there had personal experience with Mercury Dimes from SEGS, and what their opinions were.

BUFFNIXX

I have had some of my coins graded by SEGS since they opened in 1998. I was very satisfied with most of what I got from them. The grading seemed accurate and they did an excellent job of attributing buffalo nickel varieties. (Buffaloes are my speciality) That having been said I think they have been unfairly tarred and feathered, along with ICG and ANACS to some extent, by the unscrupulous activites of some of the worst of the root-cellar grading dis-services. So in todays market, if your coin is not slabbed by pcgs or ngc it is considered raw by most dealers. And they will tell you so. I should empasize that this even seems to apply to anacs and icg now. If you run accross a SEGS coin then buy it if you like it. I would not hesitate, but then again I think I can grade coins. If you cannot then you will have a problem with all slabbed coins and not only SEGS. buffnixx

packers88

I can't even get any premium out of an anacs or icg holder besides the raw price. How could you ever get anything out of a SEGS graded coin?

DeepCoin

Much depends upon the coin IMHO. Are we talking a 1944-S MS65 FB coin or a 1916-D EF45? At the higher grade levels, i.e. over 63 in one of the keys, I would be VERY cautious and pay as if it were a raw coin. That also infers that I would buy it as if it were a raw coin, meaning how big a chance are you taking financially in terms of the proposed grade and value.

I used to have a high end no bands Mercury collection and I like to think I have a good eye, but not perfect.

lordmarcovan

If it's any consolation, I'd consider a SEGS holder to be a little bit better than raw.

packers88

Yes, I agree if a ngc 65 coin is going for $300, a pcgs 65 $300, a raw price around $200, then I would pay $205 for a segs holder. From my experience, there is no respect for icg or anacs holders in the market place in terms of getting the same price for the same grade in a anacs or icg holder relative to pcgs and ngc holder, so I personally could never see a segs holder in my portfolio if I can't even justify anacs or icg holders. If segs offered me free grading I wouldn't even take it. There is a new grading service out of michigan called mmns and they are at all the major shows. If any grading service stands a chance of one day being on the same page as ngc and pcgs it is them.

QBert

My experience with SEGS coins is that unless you have it in hand to examine, take at least 2 or 3 points of the grade before you make an offer.