Wowee! This Mercury Dime Qualifies as a Rainbow and a Monster!

airplanenut · January 23, 2011 3:13AM

Not mine, but boy is it nice! NGC MS68*

Larger obverse

Larger reverse

TomB · January 23, 2011 3:14AM

Check out that die polish!

mdwoods · January 23, 2011 3:14AM

That is pretty. The middle bands really aren't rounded out, but they look split. Why isn't it FB?

djdilliodon · January 23, 2011 3:19AM

Simply amazing!

roadrunner · January 23, 2011 3:21AM

Sure looks like CoinLieutenant's killer 1940-s though I can't recall if his was a 67 or a 68 non-FB. For a 68 it would bother me a bit that the date is not well struck. It takes more than a razor-thin hairline cut to make a true FSB. True FSB's should be as sharp as the vertical or diagonal bands. I'd call this a 20-30% band split with only the very outermost portions being fully split. But I'd accept the upper or low set of bands as qualifying for FSB.

Nice coin.

roadrunner

BlackDiamond · January 23, 2011 3:28AM

Very nice Merc.

dizzyfoxx · January 23, 2011 3:31AM

<< Check out that die polish! >>

Don't you mean harsh cleaning and re-toning???

golfer72 · January 23, 2011 3:32AM

Nice looking coin but isnt strike considered at that grade level?

fcloud · January 23, 2011 3:38AM

<< Nice looking coin but isnt strike considered at that grade level?

>>

It seems NGC and PCGS grade differently. I think a bit too weak for 68, but a nice looking dime.

dizzyfoxx · January 23, 2011 3:45AM

<< 

<< Nice looking coin but isnt strike considered at that grade level?

>>

It seems NGC and PCGS grade differently. I think a bit too weak for 68, but a nice looking dime. >>

I'd say a 65, with a whopping 3-point grade bump for color.

keyman64 · January 23, 2011 3:49AM

That's a nice and colorful 66/67.

Baley · January 23, 2011 3:49AM

wow, that turned out real nice!

Rollerman · January 23, 2011 3:50AM

I'd say a 65, with a whopping 3-point grade bump for color.

CoinJunkie · January 23, 2011 4:58AM

Decent, but I'd have zero interest in it at the presumed asking price.

Frankcoins · January 23, 2011 5:08AM

AT activities would halt if the services stopped giving grade bumps for color that result in gazillion percent increased value.

PawPaul · January 23, 2011 5:19AM

.....can't be a 68 in my book with the 4 and zero that weak

tradedollarnut · January 23, 2011 5:38AM

A little too pastel..ly for my taste. And I don't like the nick on the cheek for a 68.

Don't like the strike? Pffft.

TheRegulator · January 23, 2011 5:40AM

Probably the exception, but I am not a fan of oil-slick toning.

Monstarcoins · January 23, 2011 7:24AM

WOW!!! I had wanted that coin for 3 months and Heritage live had malfunctions right before it came up......It was the first time I was devastated over a coin

.....Do you know who won it?

Monstarcoins · January 23, 2011 7:30AM

These are the pictures that made me fall in love with the dime....Looks to have luster for days

Lakesammman · January 24, 2011 1:27AM

Hey, TDN. If you're going to rain on someones parade, you need to live WEST of the Cascades.

;

lordmarcovan · January 24, 2011 1:28AM

Yep. That's a pschedelic one, all right.

<< Probably the exception, but I am not a fan of oil-slick toning. >>

Me neither, but in this case I make a definite exception.

kryptonitecomics · January 24, 2011 1:57AM

So for all those that said the coin was a 65 with a bump for color.....are you now saying that not only can NGC not grade but CAC can't grade it either

relicsncoins · January 24, 2011 2:10AM

I have a merc in 66FB with less marks, every bit the luster, and obviously a better strike. The only thing it lacks is the rainbow toning.

Eddited to add: This opinion is bases solely on the photos provided and may or may not change with the coin in hand.

llafoe · January 24, 2011 2:16AM

Very attractive coin... I agree the toning gave it a bump or two, with both NGC and CAC. This coins has to make PCGS proud!

dizzyfoxx · January 24, 2011 2:28AM

<< So for all those that said the coin was a 65 with a bump for color.....are you now saying that not only can NGC not grade but CAC can't grade it either

>>

Actually, that's not what I'm saying. My opinion is that CAC agreed with NGC that it was a 65 with a three point bump for color. BTW, definitely deserving of the star as well.

relicsncoins · January 24, 2011 2:33AM

I think it was TomB posted a 68 not long ago that I thought was a stunner. Just based on images, that coin seemed heads and tails above this coin.

JJ

Fairlaneman · January 24, 2011 2:34AM

68? Hmmm... just Hmmm. No amount of praise would convince me of the 68 grade. Its pretty though.

Ken

nankraut · January 24, 2011 3:32AM

<< AT activities would halt if the services stopped giving grade bumps for color that result in gazillion percent increased value. >>

I agree 100%, Frank.

PTVETTER · January 24, 2011 3:33AM

I understand the * for the color
I understant the MS for the mint state
I don't understant the 68 but then who am I the queestion NGC!!!

and CAC stickered it?? maybe that is not a tick on the cheek

Elcontador · January 24, 2011 5:47AM

1) Grading services have been giving attractive coins grade bumps for color for at least ten years. Most of what I have seen have been exclusively one point bumps, however.
2) To me, a 7 must be a virtually perfect coin. Miss Liberty's cheek, from what I see on this image, would preclude that grade, let alone an 8.
3) I've seen at least ten or twelve of MS 66 Liberty Nickels that were stickered which I didn't think deserved the sticker, but many of these coins imo were overgraded.

Don't think for a minute that just because a particular coin has been given a given grade by a TPG, or a sticker with regard to its quality for the grade, or is deemed to be "market acceptable," that you should merely accept this as gospel. A slab collector does this. As good as the experts are, they make mistakes. And liner coins could be graded differently on different days.

Monstarcoins · January 30, 2011 3:30AM

Well I think one thing that a lot of people that dont collect high MS grade coins dont understand is that there is more to the grade than just the strike and ticks. I think all of us from time to time look at a coin and think what were the graders thinking???? There there are times when we are very pleased with the grade!!! Truth is when grading coins that high eye appeal plays a major roll.If this coin received the MS68* grade then the coin must have "that pop" as I like to call it.If you have held a MS68 in your hand you know what I am talking about. I think NGC and PCGS both do a superb job of determining the grades on the coins.

Here is some photographic proof that the coin can have ticks and achieve high grades. ( I do not own these coins but held the second one in my hands and agree with the grade fully)

PCGS MS69 Full Bands

PCGS MS69 Full Bands

So basically I feel unless we actually have the coin in hand and can just the overall eye appeal and luster there is no way in determining MS68's and 69's simply from the photo.

PS I do not believe the coin in the OP has a nick on the cheek rather its just the toning pattern nor do I think it plays a vital roll....Only time will tell

yellowkid · January 30, 2011 3:56AM

I love the reverse, but I'm not too keen on the obverse.

SkyMan · January 30, 2011 4:30AM

That's a beauty!

Steve27 · January 30, 2011 4:35AM

Looks like a LucyBop special to me; as I recall she made a few rainbow Mercs using an old album left on her heating system for a few months.

Here's one LINK

Wowee! This Mercury Dime Qualifies as a Rainbow and a Monster!

Comments

Leave a Comment