1941 Mercury Dime

More than 250 million – a quarter billion – Mercury dimes were struck in 1941, providing more than ample supplies for coin collectors today. It’s safe to say that you should have no trouble finding a 1941 Mercury dime in virtually any grade for a price that you can afford, with well-worn specimens costing a nominal amount over base bullion values.

Here’s a breakdown of mintage figures for the 1941 Mercury dime:

• 1941, 175,090,000 minted; $4

• 1941 proof, 16,557; $400

• 1941-D, 45,634,000; $4

• 1941-S, 43,090,000; $4

*Values are for coins in a grade of Extremely Fine-40, unless otherwise noted.

1941 Mercury dimes in the MS-60 to MS-63 range can be had for around $10, with MS-65 piece – those with crisp detail and flashy, white surfaces – costing around $25 to $30 each. If you’re willing to shell out a small premium above those amounts, you could fetch yourself a 1941 Mercury dime with fully split bands (FSB), which means the horizontal lines in the bands surrounding the fasces show complete detail.

Proof 1941 dimes can make beautiful addition to any coin collection, but you may want to be a little choosy when buying proof Mercury dimes, as they come in an array of conditions. Many of them are cloudy looking and lack the brilliant surfaces commonly associated with modern proof coinage. Paying a small premium should land you a flashy 1941 proof Mercury dime that will hold a place among the crown jewels of your coin collection.

As a footnote, it should be noted that 1941-S Mercury dimes display both large and small mintmarks, though this is more notable a fact for the sake of variety collecting than for references to price, which has no distinguishable differences between the two types of 1941-S dimes.