AboutMyCoinCheat sheet
Every date, variety and error in this series worth a second look. No prices: which of these are scarce has been settled for a century, and what they fetch is true for a week.
Dates and mint marks4
- 1916-D
- 1921-D
- 1921
- 1926-S
Read the date and the mint mark. No magnification, no judgement — either it says 1932-D or it does not.
Varieties2
- 1942 over 1 overdate
- 1945 micro S
Look at one specific feature under magnification and decide what you are seeing. Most candidates are not.
The series at a glance
- Struck
- 1916–1945
- Designer
- Adolph A. Weinman
- Composition
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Obverse
- Liberty in a winged cap — the wings stand for freedom of thought, and are the reason the coin has been misnamed after Mercury for a century
- Reverse
- A fasces with an olive branch across it
- Edge
- Reeded
Mints and mint marks
On the reverse, to the left of the base of the fasces. No mark at all means Philadelphia.
| Mint mark | Mint | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | Philadelphia | 1916–1921, 1923–1931, 1934–1945 | |
| D | Denver | 1916–1921, 1923–1931, 1934–1945 | No 1923-D and no 1930-D: Denver struck no dimes at all in either year |
| S | San Francisco | 1916–1921, 1923–1931, 1934–1945 | No 1921-S and no 1934-S |
Key dates
These are the issues worth conspicuously more than the rest of the run, and every one of them is identified by reading the date and the mint mark rather than by judging the coin. Mintages are the mint’s own published figures. No prices: which dates are scarce has been settled for a century, and what they fetch is true for a week.
| Date | Mintage | Why it is scarce |
|---|---|---|
| 1916-D | 264,000 | The key to the series by a wide margin. Denver struck dimes for only part of 1916 before its presses were turned over to quarters, and no other date comes close to this mintage. |
| 1921-D | 1,080,000 | Struck in a recession year when almost no new dimes were needed, and scarce in every grade rather than only in high ones. |
| 1921 | 1,230,000 | The Philadelphia half of the same low-demand year, and the second-hardest date to find worn. |
| 1926-S | 1,520,000 | A low mintage that also circulated hard, so survivors in better than well-worn condition are genuinely difficult to find. |
Varieties
A variety is not a key date. A key date is read off the coin with no judgement at all; a variety asks you to look at one specific feature and decide what you are seeing, which is why each row below says what to look at rather than what to look for in general.
| Variety | What to look at |
|---|---|
| 1942 over 1 overdate | The top of a 1 showing inside the 2 of the date. It exists from Philadelphia, and separately from Denver as 1942/1-D.Among the most valuable Mercury dimes and among the most frequently faked. Worth having authenticated before it is worth anything. |
| 1945 micro S | A noticeably smaller S mint mark on the reverse of a 1945 San Francisco dime. |
Not an appraisal, and not an authentication. A coin worth four figures because of a variety or an error is worth certifying by a grading service before it is worth anything at all. Each one is a specialty with its own literature behind it.