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1925 Philadelphia mint, Mercury dime with great luster.
UNUSUAL FEATURES OF A 1925: According to the professional grading company, NGC, this year had particularly weak strikes (hubbing issues for all coins of this year). As a consequence, it is rare to find a 1925 Mercury dime in great condition (such as a Full Split Band).
MINTAGE: 25,610,000 minted. CAC points out that the weak strike condition makes FSB coins rare (perhaps semi-key), but this large mintage makes most of the 1925 P Mercury dimes very common, therefore worth very little.
GRADE OF THIS PARTICULAR MERCURY DIME: I grade this coin Raw Very Good (VG-8) due to all fasces rods partially present. Other details are consistent with the Very Good grade.
GRADING CRITERIA OF MERCURY DIMES IN GENERAL:
About Good (G-3) Rims worn to merge with letters, letters discernible
Good (G-4 to 7): Fasces rods worn off.
Very Good (VG- 8 to 11): Part of all 7 rods of the fasces.
Fine (F-12 to 19): Vertical rods and ax not crisp, horizontal bindings flat
Very Fine (VF-20 to 39): Well defined rods and diagonal binding, merged horiz bands
Extra Fine (XF-40 to 49) Hair good, 3/4 details on wings
Almost Uncirculated (AU-50 to 59) Slight rub on high spots, good luster
Raw means that it is not graded by a professional grading company.
I advise getting grading criteria for each type of coin because each type has unique high spots, therefore unique early wear spots that indicate grade. grades are often inflated, so I urge that everyone becomes familiar with grade criteria.
