1931-D Mercury Dime
Circulation strike struck at the Denver Mint · 1,260,000 made
- Mintage
- 1,260,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 2.5 g
- Diameter
- 17.9 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1931-D Mercury Dime worth?
It's scarcer than a typical date, so even circulated examples sell above face and above their metal value. The best uncirculated coins are where the money is.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1931-D Mercury Dime rare?
- Somewhat. 1,260,000 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1931-D Mercury Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1931 Mercury Dime?
- On the reverse, to the left of the base of the fasces. Philadelphia dimes have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is D, for Denver.
- Which Denver dates near 1931 are scarcer?
- None. Within five years either side, no Denver issue had a smaller mintage than the 1931-D.
- How many 1931-D Mercury Dime coins were made?
- 1,260,000.
What to check on your 1931-D
- Make sure the mint mark really is a D. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1931-S (1.8 million made).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Judge the grade under good light. Look at the hair above Liberty's forehead and the bands across the fasces. Fully split, rounded center bands ("Full Bands") bring large premiums.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more.
The story of the 1931-D
Denver hadn't struck the Mercury Dime since 1929. When it came back in 1931, it made 1,260,000. After that, Denver didn't make another until 1934.
1931-S came to 1.8 million and 1931 came to 3.1 million, so neither mint's 1931 coin is much scarcer than the other. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1921 (1,230,000) and the 1921-D (1,080,000).
Only the 1916-D and the 1921-D have a lower mintage among Denver's 25 Mercury Dimes. No Mercury Dime of the 1930s had a smaller run.
More on the 1931-D
Denver made 1,260,000 dimes in 1931 after skipping 1930 altogether. It then made no more until 1934. That three-year gap around one small run tells the story of the Depression at the Denver Mint. Only the 1916-D and 1921-D have smaller Denver mintages. The 1931-D is one of the recognized semi-keys of the series.
Most survivors are in Good to Fine, though collectors of the early 1930s did save some, so uncirculated pieces exist in small numbers. The coin carries a collector premium in all grades. Look for a crisp D at the lower left of the fasces and a sharp final 1 in the date, since a worn 1931 Philadelphia dime is far more common. Full-band examples bring a further premium. Because there is no 1930-D, any dime from Denver that reads 1930 is a counterfeit, so a 1931-D is the only Denver Mercury dime between 1929 and 1934. Philadelphia and San Francisco also struck small numbers that year, 3,150,000 and 1,800,000.
The late 1920s and the Depression (1926 to 1931)
Philadelphia struck between 19,480,000 and 32,160,000 dimes a year from 1926 to 1929, while Denver and San Francisco usually made between about 4.2 and 7.4 million each. The exception is the 1926-S. San Francisco produced only 1,520,000 that year, the smallest mintage of the decade after the 1921 issues. Most survivors are worn and softly struck. It is a semi-key and scarce in any grade above Fine.
The Depression then cut demand sharply. Philadelphia's output fell to 6,770,000 in 1930 and 3,150,000 in 1931. San Francisco struck 1,843,000 and 1,800,000. Denver skipped 1930 entirely before making 1,260,000 in 1931, the third lowest Denver figure of the series after the 1916-D and 1921-D. The 1931-D is counted among the semi-keys. As with 1923, there is no genuine 1930-D dime; any coin with that date and mint mark is a fake.
Dimes from these years usually turn up in Good to Fine. Their low mintages make the 1930-S, 1931-D and 1931-S more desirable than the Philadelphia dates in every grade. For the common dates of 1926 to 1929, condition and strike decide the premium. Look at the center bands of the fasces and the hair above Liberty's forehead. Then make sure the mint mark at the lower left of the fasces is crisp and properly placed. Every dime of these years is 90% silver, so even the most worn common date is worth more than face value.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1931
Coin production fell to some of the lowest levels of the century as the Depression deepened, creating key dates such as the 1931-S cent.
How to recognize it
Weinman's Liberty faces left in a close-fitting Phrygian cap with small wings, which he meant as a symbol of liberty of thought, not a portrait of the god Mercury. LIBERTY arcs over her head, IN GOD WE TRUST sits in small letters below her chin at the lower left and the date is at the lower right. His AW monogram appears between the date and the Y of LIBERTY. The reverse shows a fasces, a bundle of rods wrapped around an ax blade and tied with bands, with an olive branch for peace curling around it. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs along the top, ONE DIME across the bottom and E PLURIBUS UNUM at the right. The mint mark, when there is one, sits at the lower left of the fasces. The coin is 17.9 mm across with a reeded edge.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Mercury Dime (1916–1945) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931 |
| Mint | Denver Mint |
| Mint mark | "D" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 1,260,000 |
| Face value | 10¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 2.5 grams |
| Diameter | 17.9 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0723 troy oz (2.250 g) |
| Designer | Adolph A. Weinman |
Other 1931 Mercury Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 Mercury Dime | 3,150,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
| 1931-D Mercury Dime | 1,260,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
| 1931-S Mercury Dime | 1,800,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.