1928 Mercury Dime

1928 Mercury dimes are common in the lower grades and are not very expensive in well-worn condition, but are substantially more expensive in the upper grades. So, issues from this date find a market among collectors working with virtually any budget. In fact, a collector could easily spend $5 on a circulated specimen as they could dish out hundreds on a mint-state example.

Taking a glance at the mintage figures for the three 1928 Mercury dime issues reveals a picture that aficionados of the series will find familiar for most other 1920s Mercury dime issues – heavy representation from the Philadelphia mint, scant numbers from the Denver and San Francisco mints.

• 1928, 19,480,000 minted; $4

• 1928-D, 4,161,000; $5

• 1928-S, 7,400,000; $4

*Values are for coins in a grade of Good-4.

The 1928-D and 1928-S Mercury dimes are relatively scarce in the upper grades, and most especially in uncirculated condition. In Mint State 63, a 1928-D or 1928-S could set you back over $300, whereas a Philadelphia issue costs only $60 in that same grade.

As a footnote, it’s important to remark that the 1928-S Mercury dime was struck with a mintmark that came in two sizes; while catalog prices are grossly the same for small- and large-mintmark 1928-S dimes, the varying mintmark sizes create an interesting challenge for Mercury dime aficionados.