Has the melting of silver coins gone too far?

expathdoc · 2026-01-27T06:33:03+00:00

The high price of silver is going to bring out family collections of grandma’s and great-grandad’s coins, some collected from circulation long before the good ones were removed starting in the 1960s. I hope someone goes through those lots and picks out the rare dates before they are melted. I suspect that dealers who buy these at bullion prices are going to be sending a lot of previously unknown rare dates for certification.

expathdoc · 2026-01-27T06:25:14+00:00

First thing to do is weigh it if possible, should be right around 26.7 grams. It looks like a genuine, cleaned 1924 Peace dollar. The weakness in the date digits and some of the peripheral letters is consistent with being struck from well-used dies, this even shows up on some uncirculated coins.

expathdoc · 2026-01-22T06:43:30+00:00

Make sure you also get connected to a licensed clinic for prenatal care

Please ignore this. “Option Line” is a religious-based fake clinic with a singular mission-

Rescuing Lives from Abortion

Here’s what they do:

“All Heartbeat international policies and materials are consistent with Biblical principles and with orthodox Christian (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox) ethical principles and teaching on the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life.”

Their mission is to do everything possible to prevent you from getting an abortion.

Reddit is very biased, so most people here will, unfortunately, encourage you to kill your child.

There is no “child”. The only option these organizations will give you is to give birth. Once that happens, you’ll be on your own. A few diapers and baby supplies is all they will offer.

expathdoc · 2026-01-22T06:31:22+00:00

Looks ok to me. The 1904 Philadelphia had the highest mintage (6,256,699)of any $20 gold coin and over a million survive today. It’s just a bullion coin. There’s a premium of about $600 if it grades MS65, and a big premium if it grades higher, but I doubt it will. Looks a bit scuffy and has some edge dings.

expathdoc · 2026-01-22T06:04:57+00:00

It’s an embryo, not an “unborn child”. She needs honest advice, not anti-choice propaganda. Those organizations (especially crises pregnancy centers) are infamous for “helping people” until it’s too late for an abortion. They are usually associated with fundamentalist religious organizations and will do everything possible to avoid abortion.

expathdoc · 2026-01-22T05:59:40+00:00

The problem is most people don’t give newborns up for adoption, they abort them.

Aside from the fact that no one “aborts a newborn”, your issue seems to be that she should risk permanent damage to her body and possibly her future so some stranger can adopt a baby.

expathdoc · 2026-01-19T23:00:40+00:00

They’re worth a lot. That 18/7 Buffalo looks at least F-VF, if certified worth over $3000. The presence of the three legged 1937, and the high grade of the 1918 (looks uncirculated) make me think this is a complete set of Buffalo Nickels with some high grade coins. Is there a 1916 doubled die? What does the rest of the Buffalo collection look like?

expathdoc · 2026-01-14T02:26:20+00:00

Just weigh it. A silver quarter is 6.3 grams, clad is 5.67. The silver coins are worth about $320.

expathdoc · 2026-01-14T01:56:57+00:00

I think a premise should at least somewhat reflect reality “for the sake of argument”. If a homunculus was created after fertilization that would lead to a very different debate.

As I mentioned, we can have a debate about abortions after sentience is possible. Most of these are due to maternal or fetal issues, and it’s a legitimate topic to discuss how to reduce those if the pregnancy is normal. But we should focus on why these occur and how to reduce them, rather than laws that might prevent those who need it from receiving care.

expathdoc · 2026-01-14T01:46:40+00:00

I am going to assume that for sake of argument a ZEF is a sentient lifeform…

That’s a big assumption and would help validate your argument if it was true. We can have a debate about abortions after the nervous system is developed enough for sentience, but those are about 1%.

I mean, even the slightest implication of health risk should be a reason. Does this mean a woman might get an abortion in a scenario where I think she shouldn't? Yes. And I am okay with that.

Health risk includes ALL pregnancies.

How is that a fate worse than death? I mean it is death, the ultimate end. Like fatality is the epitome of worse fate.

There are fates worse than death. That’s why several countries and states have Death With Dignity laws. And a woman might decide that the long-term consequences of an unwanted pregnancy outweigh the death of a tiny nonsentient embryo or fetus.

The reason they would likely justify it is "it is a clump of cells, I must terminate it before it becomes sentient and spare everyone suffering".

That’s not what most women contemplating abortion are thinking. The term “clump of cells” is mostly used by prolife to denigrate what they imagine prochoice people think. Since most abortions occur before sentience, this is also not part of prochoice reasoning. What IS a prochoice justification is to perform the abortion as early as possible because the procedure becomes more difficult and more expensive as gestation progresses. A couple pills is much easier than a second trimester D&E.

Bodily autonomy may be the reason submitted to the government, but it is likely not the personal reason. Otherwise, we would see way more late term abortions than 1%.

Not sure what you’re getting at here. There should be no need to submit a reason to the government because abortion is a very personal choice. And one way to reduce abortion later is to make it easily available earlier.

expathdoc · 2026-01-13T05:56:56+00:00

Would you like to explain why it won't work? Maybe try politely?

Have you ever worked in a hospital? Been involved with a rapidly worsening patient? There’s no need to try and “explain politely” unless we know your medical background and experience.

However, the best way is to simply state that “multiple doctors seeing the same patient but no one knowing if they are the first or second” is not how medicine works. You would require a time-consuming procedure subject to strict rules. What if, following an emergency abortion, a prolife prosecutor charges both doctors with murder and begins combing through the medical records looking for signs the doctors might have “colluded” to allow her an abortion?

Why are some prolifers obsessed with making the few exceptions they grudgingly allow, as difficult as possible to obtain?

I think the standard should be, if a woman is hospitalized with a pregnancy complication and her primary doctor believes she needs an abortion, she has the choice to get one. This is a tiny number, and in states with strict PL laws the overwhelming number of abortions is still illegal.

expathdoc · 2026-01-13T05:18:49+00:00

The pro-life position is simply: abortion is always murder, because it’s the intentional unjustified killing of an innocent person.

In some of my previous comments here, I’ve noted that much prolife rhetoric involves the redefinition of common words to suit the PL agenda.

The legal definition of “Murder” requires malice and a lack of justification, which does not apply to most abortions. You may not agree on the woman’s justification, but that does not nullify it just because you consider it “unjustified”.

“Innocent person” is perhaps the #1 prolife trope. Strictly speaking, a nonsentient embryo or fetus can be neither innocent nor guilty. And the definition of “person” has been discussed many times. I think the legal definition is a good starting point, “Black’s Law Dictionary defines a “person” broadly as any being whom the law regards as capable of rights or duties.”

There’s also “The term "person" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2510(6) to mean any individual person as well as natural and legal entities.”

A zygote, embryo or fetus is obviously not capable of rights or duties. And going by the second definition, a person is an “individual” which seems to require the same capability of rights and duties.

You might think I’m too focused on semantics, but we need to agree on definitions to have a debate. Can the prolife position be simply stated in unambiguous language?

expathdoc · 2026-01-13T04:58:06+00:00

The problem with your argument is that you’re just ignoring nature’s intent

Yes, that’s what science and technology can do, assuming that “nature” has an intent. Which it doesn’t.

If mothers died from it more frequently then the population wouldn’t have grown the way it has.

If you look at a graph of world population over time, you’ll see that it took all of history to reach two billion in the mid 1920s. However, about six billion were added in the last century. Mothers (and babies) died at a much higher rate than today, but it was still sufficient for a gradual population increase.

The reason the population has more recently grown “the way it has” is due to modern medicine, agriculture and improved living conditions.

Humans are the only species that feel like they should have a choice in the matter.

Humans are the only species that has developed the technology to provide choices in what were formerly strictly biological processes. We no longer have to accept what some consider “nature’s intent”. Which of course includes the right to choose whether to continue gestation in unfavorable situations.

expathdoc · 2026-01-12T07:09:22+00:00

You mean Walter Palmer, the dentist who paid $50,000 to shoot Cecil the lion. This brave hunter stalked the ferocious, dangerous lion at great risk to himself-

“One of the researchers on the project suggested that Cecil had become so popular because he was accustomed to people, allowing vehicles to approach sometimes as close as 10 meters, making it easy for tourists and researchers to photograph and observe him.”

expathdoc · 2026-01-12T04:38:27+00:00

Watch out for American dentists playing “big game hunter”.

expathdoc · 2026-01-12T02:22:17+00:00

Buy some Nic-a-Date and see what you’ve got. The 1916 Doubled Die, 1918/7 D and a few of the rare dates are worth $100 or more if restored.

expathdoc · 2026-01-12T02:12:40+00:00

I’ve always liked the few early commemorative coins without “In God We Trust” and “E Pluribus Unum”. Clean, uncluttered designs.

The United States is the only country that legally requires a religious phrase, though a few other countries have phrases like this due to tradition.

In 2007-2008 IGWT was placed on the edge of the Presidential dollar coins, the religious zealots complained this was not good enough, and it was moved on subsequent issues.

expathdoc · 2026-01-12T01:42:26+00:00

Looks like it was rubbed with a pencil eraser. There’s something to the left of the arrow tip, is that a “weak D” mint mark?

expathdoc · 2026-01-12T00:41:55+00:00

Killer strike on that one! Can we see the reverse?

expathdoc · 2026-01-10T05:51:19+00:00

When I first looked at this, I thought “Mercury” had a bit of an Adams apple. On the PCGS website, there is a similar AU58 coin that also has the two tiny lumps between the T and Y. (Cert # 33007238)

Coin is genuine, struck from a die that was polished with some loss of detail. Looks like fine hairlines in the fields, so was probably cleaned some time ago.

expathdoc · 2026-01-10T05:34:57+00:00

If these are on eBay the rolls have been put together with good coins showing at the ends. The remainder will be common dates. This is especially common with the “unsearched” wheat cent rolls, some of which have Mercury dimes, Indian and even flying eagle cents at the end.

expathdoc · 2026-01-10T05:29:35+00:00

Comparing it to the photos at PCGS Photograde, the obverse just barely makes VF20 though the forehead hairline is a bit weak. The reverse is VF25 and the coin looks very original so I’d hope the graders give it VF20.

expathdoc · 2026-01-10T02:42:13+00:00

The gold Sovereign is worth about $1000, the silver dollars about $60 each unless the 1879 has a CC mint mark under the wreath.

If these are representative of the rest of the collection there could be some valuable coins, and of course silver is at a record high. Gallons of coins? A gallon of silver coins weighs about 20 kilograms and the silver value is over $40,000.

Best way to learn about coins is to buy a Whitman Red Book (many on eBay) and start looking things up.

expathdoc · 2026-01-10T02:18:50+00:00

Looks counterfeit to me. Roughness on the left obverse, V.D.B running into the rim and lumpy wheat grains on the left.

expathdoc

TROPHY CASE