How do I get accurate valuation on a Mercury Dime 1916-D Graded N92FB rainbow toning?
NerdsLTD
Posts: 22 ✭
My 1916-D came back as 1916-D 10C N92FB. I've examined hundreds of auctions and this is the most beautiful 16-D I've seen that grades right in the middle of the scale. I have a complete set of Mercury Dimes, most of which have a similar beautiful rainbow toning. The image doesn't look like FB to me. I'm hoping to sell this set directly to collectors and want to be sure I'm insisting on a fair price. Any input would be welcome.
Certification #52722604, PCGS #4906
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It doesn't grade at all and is not FB; it's a VF details coin. You've got a lot of work to do to straighten yourself out.
Bad strategy; you're better off selling the pieces separately to get a better result, especially the more valuable pieces.
Good. We will hold you to that.
Thanks for the input! VF details. Valuation?
First step is to look up sold listings and see what other VF details examples have sold for.
where will you sell it directly?
This PCGS VF details, cleaned example brought $2880 last November:
https://coins.ha.com/itm/mercury-dimes/1916-d-10c-cleaned-pcgs-genuine-vf-details-mintage-264-000/a/1378-7083.s
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
The OP’s coin looks more like XF details.
Its an XF details coin , not bad, but color definitely added to cover some old cleaning, /dipping.
Look at pcgs coin facts prices realized for comparable examples I do know that many dealers who have similar coins try and ask near regular graded prices for examples such as this, (I see it all the time), but they sit. I would run it on ebay, or place in auction if it were me if wanting to sell.
Not sure yet. My real hope is to sell it (and the complete set including over date) to a collector instead of a vendor. These were collected over 40 years and spent another 40 in a closet before I discovered them.
If anything was done to this coin set, it was before 1986 when the collector passed away.
That still allowed for a long period of time for one or more persons to have messed with any of the coins and clearly someone did in the case of the one you posted. But it’s still a valuable coin that will appeal to many potential buyers.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I like the toning, but it doesn't have full bands.
Agreed!
It spent years in a 1950s coin book.
Many coins near it have the same toning.
Key date with color.
Despite details designation, it should appeal to alot of collectors and dealers.
Now the question is where to sell it.
Consigning to Great Collections would be my first choice.
Sell via Ebay is an option but entails risk. Also, do you have a track record of selling coins? If you are just some random guy, expect lowballers.
Coin shows... dealers will pay a fair price for a key date. Shop it around and haggle. Cash in hand beats other two options.
Good luck!
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
Thank you! That's solid advice. I'm in no hurry to sell but want it to go to someone who will really appreciate it. I've looked at every historical auction of the same grade and this is still the best looking 1916-D I've seen in this grade.
Regardless, of how it was stored or for how long, the coin looks cleaned in the pictures and in the opinion of PCGS, where it was seen in hand. And as I posted previously, it’s still a valuable coin that will appeal to many potential buyers.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
"Thank you! That's solid advice. I'm in no hurry to sell but want it to go to someone who will really appreciate it. I've looked at every historical auction of the same grade and this is still the best looking 1916-D I've seen in this grade."
You own the coin, you're not its parent. Essentially, every coin that is purchased is later sold so worrying about who the coin ends up with (in the near-term) isn't something that should be high on your priority list, in my opinion. As someone who has been in the hobby-industry for decades I can tell you that I have sold terrific coins to collectors who just had to have it in their collection only to see the collector consign the coin to an auction or another dealer three-months later. Conversely, as a dealer I have purchased coins to offer for sale, but then changed my mind and have owned them for more than a quarter-century. The coin survived forgotten in a closet for decades and it will survive if it changes hands multiple times.
Regardless, it's authentic, valuable and liquid as long as you understand the liquidity will depend upon the price you attach to it. Good luck!
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
More great advice. Thank you @TomB
Thank you all for your input. What an awesome forum!
The coin, while details graded, still has nice eye appeal to many potential buyers and would probably bring a good price at auction. The fact that it is in a PCGS slab is a big plus.
Thank you for the input. Care to suggest a place to sell it? @yspsales suggested Great Collections. Any thoughts?
This coin was in the same book. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/52708478
I also think GC would be the place to go for this coin. They have quick turnaround, low buyer's premium (aka; really seller's premium), the best image team in the industry, fast payments and have built incredible market reach and saturation. This coin has value, but ins't a major rarity, and given its details designation from PCGS would benefit highly from the imaging team at GC.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I agree with the suggestions that GC would be a good place for it to be sold.
PCGS didn't call FB so where were you getting that?
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.---Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States of America, 1801-1809. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.
don't be harsche
It's a fair question. When I added to coin to my PCGS set registry, this is how it appears in inventory. @MsMorrisine I don't mind the question. @mr1931S I didn't set, nor can I change the grade of a coin in inventory when it was added via a PCGS cert. As such, PCGS did call it a grade that didn't make sense to me. I hope it now seems like a fair question.
I do as well. Your seller's fee will be $0.00 if it closes over $1000, and this coin should clear that amount easily.
That's not a grade, that's an indication that it is a details coin. Details grade coins don't count in the registry as graded.
The grade is "VF details"
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
don't be a groupie
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.---Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States of America, 1801-1809. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.
I would like to see the designation "FSB" for Mercury dimes that deserve it. I can see where seeing "FB" to describe a coin like yours would confuse the novice collector, what an inventory list says notwithstanding. What I go for on Mercury dimes that are in MS (mint state) condition are "Full Split Bands". That mostly means being able to see no separation in the line between the "rounds" that can be observed on the bands of a Mercury dime with fully struck center bands. I saw the "92" grade number you posted that you associated with your dime along with "FB" and was going wth so I had to investigate by going to the link you posted to see what's up. Stick around. People are mostly helpful when they want to be around here.
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.---Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States of America, 1801-1809. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.
I'm hoping to sell this set directly to collectors and want to be sure I'm insisting on a fair price. Any input would be welcome.
To put it in perspective, I hereby offer $2100. That said, I am sure you can get significantly more for it elsewhere.
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
OP should put it on the BST forum here. I would add that offers starting at around $2K seem reasonable. Not a coin for me but for the Mercury dime collector who wants to see some meat on his or her '16-D the OP's coin fills the bill. It's hard for me to believe that the '16-D that I found in my brother's holdings a few years ago that we subsequently sent in for PCGS authentication and grading now has a market value of over $1600. It's only in good condition for col.
More advice: Stay away from ebay. You will get a better sell price here on BST.
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.---Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States of America, 1801-1809. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.
He won’t necessarily get a better sale price on the BST and I believe that offers starting at $2000 would be too low.
Also, for anyone else who plans to make unsolicited offers, please do so through private messages instead of turning this into a BST thread.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I think it's a coding or Coinfacts error. I recently had this XF-Cleaned coin become Prooflike. This changed recently, it was just a normal details coin until a few weeks ago when it became PL.
(Possibly related, the variety is a BS but used Proof dies.)
but cert verification is still accurate.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
It's evolving.
Just curious - when you say you’re wanting to sell directly to collectors, are you saying you’re willing to take less to make a true collector happy, or that you’re hoping to skip the middleman and get full retail for yourself?
I’m not knocking either option (or whatever else you might intend) but it can inform the venue suggested for selling.
Also, I was a little unclear on if you’re wanting to sell the set as a whole, or parse it out. Most collectors who appreciate coins like the one listed like to put their own sets together and not buy already complete ones.
Good luck!
92 is the details code for "cleaning".
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Yes, I am very well aware of that.
In the registry, N1 is the default code for details coins, it typically does not show the cause of a details issue in the registry, although some coins will show N92, N98, etc - I don't know why some show the details code and some do not.
The code in the registry for this coin switched from N1 (generic details) to N1PL (generic details + Proof Like) as pictured above, similarly to how OP's coin showed N92FB (Cleaned + Full Bands)...where clearly neither is nor is eligible to receive PL or FB.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
@ShaunBC5 It seems we have had very different experiences about how dealers and collectors operate.
It has been my experience that dealers, when collectors come into their stores to sell, are offered slightly below wholesale prices.
When those same collectors are buying from the same dealer, they are sold coins at slightly below retail. Correct me if I am wrong, but the only wholesaler in this equation is the dealer, not the collector. I take no issue with a professional who hopes to buy low and sell high. Of course, that is where profit comes from. While I am certainly new to the complexities of numismatics, I have never known a dealer to pay more than a seller when selling the same coin.
Collectors collect because it makes them happy. I do not expect to sell these collections at retail nor am I willing to part with key dates for wholesale only to have the remaining 80% of the inventory be valued at melt because it does not interest a dealer. Moreover, some of the key dates have original sales receipts from Stacks of New York’s original location and I know precisely what they were sold for and the year they were sold. If a collector ends up with more coins because they are willing to pay somewhere between retail and wholesale, I believe everybody wins in that scenario. To answer your question, I expect to take less and already have in order to make collectors happy. I say that because I have had the key dates graded to ensure I am offering real value for all parties involved. The initial question of this thread was determining the valuation of coins that are rare enough in this grade that we don’t have great data regarding their value.
I can already hear the chants, “let the free market decide.” The question is which free market. I did not intend to solicit bids, nor was I trying to make this question more complicated than I initially asked it. This forum is an incredible community and I’ll admit that once the task of selling this collection is complete, I might start my own collection. The richness of history behind some of this coinage is truly interesting to me. That said, I was asked to organize and sell this collection and have had pretty good luck at doing so thus far. I find luck works best when you are prepared for it and I’m deeply grateful to all of you for your input on the matter.
This is too simplistic. A dealer who has a customer will often pay more than a "collector".
For years, I made money at my local coin show auction because I was willing to pay more than the whole room full of collectors.
Dealers buy a lot of material in public auctions. How do you think that's even possible if "collectors" pay more than "dealers"?
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.