Mintage: 135,000.

Date Acquired: 14 July 2007.

Variety: F-103.

About This Coin: This was a purchase from David Lawrence. They wanted strong money for it -- actually, about 75% over typical price sheet values for this date. (The coin was sold as an NGC XF-45. More on that later.) Well, normally that would be a turn-off. But if you know Seated Dimes well, it wasn't that much of a problem.

First of all, this coin is quite scarce in EF and above, and damn near impossible in mint state. (Gerry Fortin estimates this date is R4+ in EF/AU and R7 in mint state.) Second of all, almost every mid-1860s S-mint dime I've seen (think 1863-67 here) with this degree of wear is dipped or cleaned -- and as often as not, scratched or otherwise damaged. And finally, even the average dipped/cleaned schlock for the grade regularly sells for 25-50% over sheet value on eBay, Heritage, TeleTrade and elsewhere. Keeping that in mind, this coin seemed like a much better buy, especially since I think I'd kick myself if I passed on it. It really appears to be "all there" for the grade, and this level of originality in an 1866-S dime is rare. Add to that the scarcity of this date in EF overall -- original or not -- and this "overpriced" coin seemed like a screaming buy to the specialist. It's a much better buy than the dipped/cleaned stuff for $100-150 less.

This coin is hard to grade. Those who know how to grade Seated Dimes as a "type coin" will note the weak details in the head and some lack of detail in the legend. But you can also look at the reverse -- particularly the grains in the upper half of the reverse -- to see this is is easily EF in terms of wear, and NGC's assessment of EF-45 isn't out of the question (in fact, it's about right based on that wear). Plus, you'd expect to see flatness on the breasts on a VF coin, and that's just not here. So clearly, I think, EF is unquestionably the right grade. You can toss a coin between NGC's 45 and 40. I choose to think of it as a strong 40 and bought it as such.

Note the weak mint mark. Varieties F-101 and F-103 share this trait, and in grades below VF/EF this mintmark is often worn smooth or close to it. If you know the position of the date on the varieties, you can tell what is an 1866 and what is an 1866-S. In particular, the F-101 variety of 1866-S slopes sharply downward; if you see an 1866 "Philly" coin offered with a sharply downsloping date, it's an 1866-S with a worn out mintmark.

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Most recently updated: 22 February 2008

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