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My Mercury Dimes

October 15th, 2012 at 01:52 pm

My grandparents gave me some Mercury dimes when I was young. I have 18 of them. They are not particularly nice Mercury dimes. None of them are rare mints.

I did some research on their value when I first graduated college, and was flat broke. I found out that their value was generally 2X face value, or about 20 cents each. I decided to hold on to them. Letting go of them was just not worth $3.60.

I did a little internet research recently, and found out, due to the price of silver, their melt value is around $2.40 each now, or $43.20 for the lot.

What to do? They sit in the top of my dresser drawer. They are not nice enough to display. All they ever were was pocket change. But, they were a gift from my grandparents. I don't particularly like the idea of selling those gifts for melt value.

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “My Mercury Dimes”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    October 15th, 2012 at 01:55 pm 1350309347
    1350309347

    Could you keep one or two and frame them....because of the memory factor? Sell the rest. Or purchase something with the funds that will remind you of where that money came from.

    Good luck making the decision.

  2. Suzanne Says:
    October 15th, 2012 at 04:30 pm 1350318635
    1350318635

    If you decide to sell, be sure to have a picture taken of you holding the coins!

  3. baselle Says:
    October 15th, 2012 at 08:15 pm 1350332120
    1350332120

    Some thoughts:

    Perhaps you can find someone to make jewelry out of them? Cuff links maybe, cane tops. Probably a little heavy for earrings, but maybe a charm bracelet.

    If they are really horrible or grungy (and by the way, dirty isn't as bad as worn), perhaps the jeweler can melt them down himself - they aren't legal tender so I don't think one can get in trouble with doing that.

    Mercury Dimes are considered lucky by some, especially the leap year ones. Perhaps you have a superstitious friend Big Grin that you need to find a Christmas gift for?

    Considered selling the coins directly on ebay or a coin collecting site? There's always somebody breaking into the hobby - they could be a big part of some newbies coin collection.

  4. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    October 16th, 2012 at 02:28 am 1350354490
    1350354490

    Maybe you could clean them up, and then take a picture of them with yourself in it. Keep the picture as a memento, and then sell them. Use the money towards your debt and consider the reduction in debt as part of the gift from your grandparents. Smile Anyway, just an idea.

  5. LuckyRobin Says:
    October 16th, 2012 at 03:54 am 1350359657
    1350359657

    Here's a thought. Save four dimes for your four children. You could frame each one and give it as a gift to your children as something passed down from their great grandparents. I immensely value the things that were passed down to me, because most of my great grandparents died before I was born (and the last died when I was 4) and it gives me a piece of them I never would have had otherwise. They may be too young yet, but maybe in the future. Then sell the rest.

  6. pretty cheap jewelry Says:
    October 16th, 2012 at 05:04 pm 1350407052
    1350407052

    I also have a coin collection, mostly from childhood, but even today I am saving all pennies from 1981 and prior (they are made with 95% copper unlike post 1982 which are 95%+ zinc, see details
    Text is here and Link is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(United_States_coin)
    here) and I think value is going nowhere but up. Save them for your kids.

  7. Jerry Says:
    October 22nd, 2012 at 10:39 am 1350902383
    1350902383

    I was thinking something along the lines of baselle... save two of the nicest ones for display or cuff links or something like that, and then turn the others in for cash. That way it will lead to you honoring the heritage of the coins and your family, while also having the insurance of not keeping something valuable sitting in a drawer someplace. I also like LuckyRobin's idea of saving a few of them for your kids.
    Jerry

  8. frank Says:
    January 11th, 2013 at 02:03 am 1357869808
    1357869808

    under no circumstances should you have them melted down... well, unless they're "slugs," coins that are so worn out the legend/date is wiped out. old silver coins are usually worth at least a bit more than just silver metal. did you check something like the blue book and make sure you don't have any years that are worth significantly above melt value? and they have sentimental value, which is fantastic. what you do with them is your decision, but i would advise NOT having them melted down at the least (if not also keeping them and not selling them away). also, cleaning coins ruins collector's value. so be careful! handing them down to your kids would be an awesome thing, so long as they know how to treasure little numismatic pieces of history like these and not have them melted down or pawned.

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