Hello all, I have been collecting coins for some time. I’m 31 now and most of my collection began when I was 6. Recently I’ve begun to bring them all to light in search of errors. This one really caught my attention. I was hoping to have you guys look at a couple for me and advise their significance and/or value if known. Here is a 1941 mercury dime that’s caught my attention. Appears to be multiple die chips and subsequent cracks.
Not an error - that's either toning, or rim damage, but it' not any die cracks or die chips on the rev. of the coin....and a few scratches..... Just a well-worn Merc. Dime.
That raised area at first glance looks like a die chip, almost a cud (attached to the rim) but I claim NO expertise in errors; just trying to learn myself. @paddyman98 ? Steve
Could be a very small metal flake: aka: lamination. (if it's not metal moved there from a hit/contact mark) Small laminations like this can be fun to view and get an education about what a lamination looks like.
I would agree with you on damage on the mercury dime, however the crack through the middle begins with the deformation in the N in ONE, and extends across into the A in America. The S is also suspect too. The material is raised in those areas. I’m not sure how you could damage it without chipping those raised areas off? Also how could they deform the letters like that? I haven’t really seen anything like it before. Not saying it isn’t a possibility, but I’m still stumped. I might try and take some better pictures. Coin is very dirty but surprisingly in good overall shape.
I replied to your Nickel (which should have it's own thread, so that we don't get mixed up) It looks like a small flake of metal (not a cud)
Let me see if I can’t get a better picture of that. That nickel is doesn’t Well I checked with a local coin shop here in San Jose (CA) today. I’m in no way an expert on any of these but this individual fees pretty strongly that the dime is not indeed damaged and it was a “bad dye” and the nickle likely had a die with a chunk missing out of it. Apparently it’s up to me whether or not I want to take the gamble sending them somewhere to have them authenticated as that cost may outweigh the added value of a defect. Nonetheless pretty cool! I’m now hunting through all of them to see if I can spot anything else!
The dime is damaged. There are gouges that show displaced metal from being hit and a long scratch. It absolutely wasn't caused by a "bad dye". It's not unusual for a coin dealer to lack knowledge on specialty subjects like error coins. BTW: you received feedback from the country 's foremost dealer in error coins. I would strongly recommend listening to him instead of your local dealer in questions regarding errors and varieties
