AboutMyCoin1938-D Mercury Dime in VF30
A 1938-D Mercury dime graded VF30 is that coin in one particular state of preservation — the date and the mint mark are already fixed, and VF30 is what a grader called the surface that survived. What that looks like on this coin is below. The nearest grade of this date this site does have a researched figure for is Very Fine (VF-20), at $7 to $16, from sales and public data.
What VF30 means
A 1938-D Mercury dime in Very Fine (VF-30) sits at the top of Very Fine: the two separate lines of each horizontal band and the individual leaves of the olive branch are largely present, the high points of the wing and the hair above Liberty’s ear have lost their shape over a smaller area than at twenty, and only the highest points are worn. It is the last grade where the wear is obvious at arm’s length.
A slab, a dealer’s list or a price guide may write this grade VF-30. They are the same grade and the same 1938-D Mercury dime.
Where this grade sits
The grades a 1938-D Mercury dime is given run from PO1 to MS70. One step up from VF30 is Very Fine (VF-35). In general terms, the higher the grade the more the coin is worth.
A blank in the value column is a grade this site has not researched, not a grade the coin is worth nothing in.
How to check this yourself
Sold listings, not asking prices. The link below is already filtered to completed sales of a 1938-D Mercury dime in VF30, which is the difference between what somebody paid and what somebody hoped for. Until this site has a researched figure for this grade, that search is the answer — take the middle of several recent sales rather than the highest.
The metal floor under it
$4.65
0.0723 troy oz silver × $64.38 per troy ounce
$64.38/ozt, based on spot prices at 23 September 2026 19:59 UTC
Whatever the market does, a 1938-D Mercury dime cannot be worth less than the metal in it. That figure is what the premium for VF30 is measured against, and it moves with the metal price rather than with the coin market.
Where these figures come from
We gather publicly available data from several public sources including eBay, PCGS, NGC, Numista, USA Coin Book, PriceCharting, and others.
Not an appraisal. AboutMyCoin estimates from published specifications and does not authenticate or grade coins.
1938-D Mercury Dime: every grade, the metal and the specification →