1941 Mercury Dime Value Chart |
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Mint Mark | Good | Fine | Extremely Fine | About Uncirculated | Low Mint State | Mid Mint State | Proof |
1941 (P) No Mint Mark Mercury Dime Value | $2.13 | $3.24 | $3.50 | $4.92 | $7.24 | $35 | $315 |
1941-S Mercury Dime Value | $2.13 | $3.24 | $3.50 | $4.92 | $7.24 | $35 | – |
1941-D Mercury Dime Value | $2.13 | $3.24 | $3.50 | $5.96 | $8.47 | $28 | – |
it’s considered one of America’s most beautiful coins. So let’s analyze it closely, look at its varieties, and verify the 1941 Mercury Dime Value.
1941 Mercury Dime Specifications
When Barber Coinage reached its 25th anniversary in 1916, the US Mint was quick to replace it. The coin was unpopular with the public, and the new Mint Director, Robert Woolley, was eager to change it. Also, he misinterpreted the Coinage Act of 1890. He thought it said coins must be redesigned after 25 years, but The Act only offered it as a fuss-free minting option.
The Barber Coinage was designed by Chief Mint Engraver Charles Barber in 1892, and he wanted to do the redesigns as well. But the mint’s leadership didn’t like his sketches. They invited Adolph Weinman, Albin Polasek, and Hermon MacNeil to come up with alternatives. Weinman’s designs were chosen for the Mercury Dime and the Walking Liberty Half Dollar.
Lady Liberty was modeled by Elsie Stevens, the spouse of Wallace Stevens. The couple were Weinman’s tenants at the time, and Elsie posed wearing an old stocking to mimic a Phrygian Cap. The coin’s aesthetics were much admired, but its detail and high points presented issues for the mint. They had to remove the fin and lower the relief levels to make it easier to coin.
Although Barber couldn’t veto the new dime’s design, he slowed the process with endlessly bureaucratic barriers. He had a history with Weinman’s late mentor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and he was upset that all his coins – the dime, quarter, and half dollar – were to be replaced by artists connected to the man. Even the penny was redone by Saint-Gaudens’s assistant!
All these delays meant the Barber Dime was minted by the million for at least one more year before Mercury Dimes hit the market. But when they were eventually released, they proved quite popular and were minted from late 1916 to 1945 when FDR died. That year, they were replaced by Roosevelt Dimes in honor of the deceased president. Let’s focus on its features.
The Obverse of the 1941 Mercury Dime
The obverse (heads side) of the 1941 Mercury Dime features a Young Lady Liberty wearing a Phrygian Cap or Liberty Cap with wings on it. She faces left and the legend Liberty curves around her head, with the E and R hidden in her cap. In God We Trust is on the lower left and the mint date is on the lower right. AW for Adolph Weinman is after the Y in Liberty.
The Reverse of the 1941 Mercury Dime
1941 Mercury Dime Varieties and Value Guide
Most coins are either proof strikes or regular strikes, also called business strikes. The latter are intended for everyday use and are referred to as circulation coins. Other strike varieties include Special Mint Sets (SMS), Uncirculated Sets, Enhanced Uncirculated Sets, and Specimens aka Special Proofs (SP). In 1941, the mint coined regular strikes and proof dimes.
- Category: Mercury Dime
- Mint Branches: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco
- Total Mintage: 263,830,557
- Obverse Designer: Adolph Weinman
- Reverse Designer: Adolph Weinman
- Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
- Diameter: 91mm (0.705 inches)
- Thickness: 35mm (0.053 inches)
- Weight: 5g
- Edge: Reeded – 118 Reeds
Apart from being renamed the Mercury Dime, some reporters referred to this coin as the golf dime or battle-axe dime because they didn’t know what a fasces was. In Italy, the fasces was a … fascist symbol … but in America, Weinman chose it to symbolize strength and unity while the olive branch signified peace. He said the winged cap stood for liberty of thought.
1941 (P) No Mint Mark Mercury Dime Value
In 1941, the Philadelphia Mint coined 175,106,557 Mercury Dimes. In April 2001, an MS 68 was $2,128. Almost two decades later, an MS 68+ FB sold for $17,625 in September 2019.
- Type: Mercury Dime
- Edge: Reeded – 118 Reeds
- Mint Mark: None
- Place of Minting: Philadelphia
- Year of Minting: 1941
- Face Value: 10 Cents
- Highest Price: $17,625 in September 2019
- Quantity Produced: 175,106,557
- Designer: Adolph Weinman
- % Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
- Mass:5g
- Diameter: 91mm
In August 2022, an MS 68 sold for $3,360, but MS 68 is still the highest known grade. PCGS has only listed three of them. The current price estimate hasn’t changed much – it’s $17,500.
1941 (P) No Mint Mark Proof Mercury Dime Value
Proof coins can be matte, mirror-like, or reverse proofs. In 1941, the Mercury Dime proofs were mirror-like, so they had reflective fields and frosted devices. The dies were scrubbed with horsehair brushes to make the field shiny, then pickled in acid to frost the devices. This pickling gets weaker every time the die strikes, so the earliest ones are Deep Cameo (PCGS).
NGC calls this grade Ultra Cameo, and it only covers the first 50 to 100 coins with extreme contrast between the device and the field. The grade below that is cameo. Also, to ensure the best shine, proof planchets are burnished before striking by tumbling them in a vat full of 6mm stainless steel balls called satellites. In 1941, Philadelphia made 16,557 proof dimes.
- Type: Proof Mercury Dime
- Edge: Reeded – 118 Reeds
- Mint Mark: None
- Place of Minting: Philadelphia
- Year of Minting: 1941
- Face Value: 10 Cents
- Highest Price: $13,200 in February 2020
- Quantity Produced: 16,557
- Designer: Adolph Weinman
- % Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
- Mass: 2.5g
- Diameter: 17.91mm
In February 2020, a PR 69 sold for $13,200. But years ago and two steps down, a PR 67 Cameo was only $4,025 in March 2006. The current estimate for this coin is $8,500. PCGS has no DCAMs, but it has graded five PR 68s, estimating that value as $13,000 in 2023. It also estimates the price of a PR 69 at $48,500. NGC sold one at $10,500 in January 2021.
1941-S Mercury Dime Value
In 1941, the San Francisco Mint made 43,090,000 Mercury Dimes with the S Mint Mark. Some had a Large S and others had a Small S since some coins used the wrong hand punch.
- Type: Mercury Dime
- Edge: Reeded – 118 Reeds
- Mint Mark: S
- Place of Minting: San Francisco
- Year of Minting: 1941
- Face Value: 10 Cents
- Highest Price: $28,175 in November 2006
- Quantity Produced: 43,090,000
- Designer: Adolph Weinman
- % Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
- Mass:5g
- Diameter:91mm
1941-S Large S Mercury Dime Value
In August 2016, an MS 65 Large S sold for $506. PCGS has graded 2 of them and estimates their 2023 value as $600. Meanwhile, an MS 65 FB sold for $900 on eBay in June 2021.
1941-S Small S Mercury Dime Value
Over its history, the US Mint has often made coins for other countries, including Cuba, Peru, Belgium, Australia, and the Netherlands. So sometimes, foreign planchets get stamped with US coin designs. In the 1940s, some San Francisco Mercury Dimes were stamped with the hand-puncheon intended for Filipino coins, and the S on these 10c coins was much smaller.
In September 2004, an MS 68 sold for $1,266. Two years later, an MS 68 FB sold for $28,175 in November 2006. But in more recent times, an MS 68 FB PL was down to $3,840 in April 2020. Only one of these is known, and PCGS estimates its value at $5,500 in 2023. But it has graded two MS 67+ FB PLs, and one of them recently sold for $1,821 in December 2022.