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.
My Mercury Dimes
October 15th, 2012 at 01:52 pm
October 15th, 2012 at 01:55 pm 1350309347
Good luck making the decision.
October 15th, 2012 at 04:30 pm 1350318635
October 15th, 2012 at 08:15 pm 1350332120
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 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.
October 16th, 2012 at 02:28 am 1350354490
October 16th, 2012 at 03:54 am 1350359657
October 16th, 2012 at 05:04 pm 1350407052
October 22nd, 2012 at 10:39 am 1350902383
Jerry
January 11th, 2013 at 02:03 am 1357869808