? About a 1930 Mercury dime 0

[FTW]

Hi.

i was going through some Mercury coins and came across this 1930 Mercury dime with an interesting reverse. I was wondering if it was minted like that or if it’s some kind of damage? 

[JKK]

No, that did not happen at the mint. Circular damage of that sort happens when the coin is pinned under something that rotates, or perhaps a small hard hollow cylinder struck it hard. Really too bad because there's a lot of detail left on that Merc. It might look ugly to a novice, but I see good detail on the obverse feathers, hairline discernible; reverse would have all fasces distinct but for the damage, with the high points of the crossing bands merging but the rest distinct.

[Greenstang]

I agree, PMD.

Not worth much more than bullion now.

[Conder101]

That was probably once the top con in a dime roll bank.  Something like this.  The bank would hold a roll of dimes and you see that screw slot head?  There was a threaded rod that ran the entire length of the bank that ended with a disk.  To use the bank you untreaded the rod until the disk was above the slot.  Then you put your dimes in and threaded the rod back down to hold them in place so they couldn't fall out.  Most people tightened the rod down real good and the end of the rod/disk would cut a circular groove into the top dime.

These banks were often giveaways from banks to kinds to encourage them save.  They were the predecessor tot he cardboard "dime in the slot savings banks that became popular in the 50's and 60's

Edited May 21, 2020 by Conder101

[Just Bob]

1 hour ago, Conder101 said:

That was probably once the top con in a dime roll bank.  Something like this.  The bank would hold a roll of dimes and you see that screw slot head?  There was a threaded rod that ran the entire length of the bank that ended with a disk.  To use the bank you untreaded the rod until the disk was above the slot.  Then you put your dimes in and threaded the rod back down to hold them in place so they couldn't fall out.  Most people tightened the rod down real good and the end of the rod/disk would cut a circular groove into the top dime.

These banks were often giveaways from banks to kinds to encourage them save.  They were the predecessor tot he cardboard "dime in the slot savings banks that became popular in the 50's and 60's

Very cool dime bank! 

And, is that your "Dime Kitty?" I have one from a bank on the MS gulf coast in my exonumia collection.

[FTW]

Thank you Conder101. 

That makes sense since the rest of the coin isn’t damaged at all.  I appreciate being schooled on things like this. 
 

[kbbpll]

I have seen that circular groove on a few Barber dimes as well. This seems to be a good explanation for it, particularly if these coin banks were very common. Previously I was thinking it had something to do with parking meters or gumball machines.

[Conder101]

18 hours ago, Just Bob said:

And, is that your "Dime Kitty?"

No just an image I picked up.