Too soon to judge dime variety

I’m skeptical of the 1982 dimes without any mintmark. Any comments?

It depends on just which direction your skepticism is aimed. They are a genuine minting variety, without question. The actual mintage is a guess, but in this specific case the coin was concentrated in one area, allowing much better than usual chances to pinpoint the number found. If you are concerned about the investment potential of the coin, only time will answer your question. Estimates of this – or any other minting variety’s potential – are guesses based on the past performance of similar varieties. Current catalog is $300.

I know that the 1916-D Mercury dime is the key coin in that series, but what’s the story on the listing for a 1916-D/D dime?

The right slash (/) is used as a symbol for “over.” In this case it means a repunched D over D. There are four reverse dies that have been positively identified for the 1916-D. Of the four, dies number two and three have the “D” repunched. Die number two has the strongest, most easily seen repunching that shows most at the upper edge of the “D.” The third die shows a fairly strong notch in the upper rear corner of the upper serif.

Do you have any idea how many of the 1979-S and 1981-S proof coins were struck with the Variety II mintmarks?

First, let me remind readers that all six denominations for the two years carry one or the other of the mintmarks. Official U.S. Mint estimates for the Variety II “S” mintmark proof coins for 1979 and 1981 are:
Denomination 1979-S Mintage 1981-S Mintage

Cent 829,000 599,000
Nickel 668,000 498,000
Dime 737,000 623,000
Quarter 624,000 922,000
Half Dollar 428,000 314,000
Dollar 425,000 330,000

No estimates of the total number of sets with all six Variety II mintmarks are available, as numerous sets for both years have a mixture of the old and new mintmarks. It is believed that the number of full 1981-S proof sets is substantially smaller than for 1979-S, hence the wide current difference in value.

I’ve been trying to find out what a 1990 proof cent without a mintmark is worth. A friend in Brooklyn says it’s worth only a few cents. Is he right?

Sorry, but your friend in Brooklyn hasn’t been reading our publications. The listing refers to the 1990 proof cents, which came in both the proof and prestige sets, that had been struck without the “S” mintmark. These cents catalog at $2,750. Note that these are proof coins, not the coins you would normally find in circulation.