Sirs, What does FB exactly mean in Mercury Dimes as to the construction of the coin? I can not find any bands. Also, Why is a MS-66 Mercury Dime in a low population which is not FB worth so little? Thanks
The "bands" are on the reverse. they are the horizontal ribbons around the middle of the bundle of rods with ax, called a "fasces." There are really TWO bands around the middle, and on really nice Mercury Dimes, you can see them separated. (The bands at the very top and bottom are not the ones under discussion.) The central bands on the reverse are a difficult feature because as the dies wear, this little detail disappears. Also, the center of the reverse competes with the center of the obverse for metal. Also, in the early years of production, the hubs from which dies are made are "fresh." As more and more and more dies are made from these hubs, they wear out. As America came out of the Depression and got into World War II, hundreds of millions of Mercury Dimes were knocked out. Finding them with full mint luster is not so hard. Finding them with the full details of 1916 is much harder. As a consequence, FB (Full Band) and FSB (Full SPLIT Bands) designate truly choice examples, regardless of the state of wear. My preference in Mercury Dimes is always for the early years. As for what a "low" population might be, even the 1916-D runs over a quarter million examples. In order to buy one, all you need is money. The more money you have, the higher the grade. It is not a challenge. On the other hand, if you collect almost anything other than US Mint products, you can easily acquire truly rare, even unique, museum quality examples. (See Frank Robinson's book, CONFESSIONS OF A NUMISMATIC FANATIC.) The point is that you take a 38-S or 39-D Mercury Dime and you have "e pluribus unum": one out of many, or about one out of 10 million. Michael "rare avis"
Dear mmarotta, Thank you for the info on full bands. Here is the reason for the question. I bought a 1916-S 10C MS-66 NGC for $256 at auction. The coin looks real good but it is not FB. By population I meant that this coin has only 76 at MS-66 with 15 better. I thought that this population was low and wondered why the price was not higher. If it was FB the price would have been in the thousands for an equal population. I guess that collectors only want the FB style of the Mercury Dime. Again I say thank you for the description because I could not find a decent one on the web. QUAVIET p.s. I think I have caught a fever and am spending all my money on coins at auction. Unfortunately I have a addictive personality.
