1953-S Dime Supply Hurt by Rise in Silver

[jeff of pa]

There are some potentially good Roosevelt dimes still waiting to be discovered. The 1953-S might be one of those better dates that has never had its supply tested, especially in top grades.

There are an assortment of factors to be consider when it comes to the 1953-S, the first being that back in 1953 the Roosevelt dime was not heavily collected or even saved. You could probably say that about any Roosevelt dime in history. In 1953, collectors were interested in lower denominations. This was because many of them were younger in age, and a dime was a higher denomination than they would normally collect.

Of course, if the collectors were not interested, then dealers were unlikely to save extra examples as well.

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1953-S Dime Supply Hurt by Rise in Silver

 

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[Diver_Down]

The same can be said about the Franklin half dollar series. Many were not saved as it wasn't a popular design. It was a high denomination so consequently they were not collected and stocked at LCS at the time. With the peak of silver in '80 and the recent run-up in silver prices, it is unknown how many were lost to the melting pot.

 

[Generic_Lad]

There are undoubtedly many, many, many good coins waiting to be found in melt bins. From Carson City dimes and quarters, to rare gold.

If you can find bullion shops that are willing to sell you their "odd coins" you can get great deals. Family owned "Cash 4 Gold" style shops have always produced nicely for me.

The main things I'd look for are:

Easily identifiable varieties of common-ish coins. The things you don't need a loupe to see, for example, the micro-O variety of the 1900-O Morgan. http://www.vamworld.com/1900-O+VAM-5

Foreign coins. Know a series and know it well. An easy series to find/know are British gold sovereigns. Take a loupe with you and look for mintmarks. For example, the 1920-P sovereigns generally sell for melt. However, a 1920-S sovereign can easily sell for over $100,000. A 1920-M sovereign is rare and can sell for several thousand dollars.

If you can cherry-pick Franklin halves, I think there is a market for full-bell line, top grade examples, even for common dates.

Large cents are filled with specialty varieties too.

There is no doubt in my mind that today there are hundreds of rare coins being bought and sold for melt, and that someone with a good eye and a good network of dealers can make a fortune buying and selling these coins. The problem is, there's no easy supply for these coins, chances are you're not going to be finding a 1900 micro-O Morgan at your local coin shop because the owners know better. A quest to find one of these is going to involve going to many an antique mall, many a shady pawn-shop, looking at thousands of junk Morgans on eBay and squinting at low-resolution pictures on Craigslist.