1941 Mercury Dime Value: How Much is it Worth Today?

The official name of the Mercury Dime is the Winged Liberty Head Dime. But most people assumed it was the Roman god, Mercury, so the name stuck. In reality, it’s a young Lady Liberty with wings on her Phrygian Cap. And 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 Value Chart
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	–

 

1941 Mercury Dime Specifications

When Barber Coinage reached its 25^th 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

The reverse (tails side) of the 1941 Mercury Dime has writing all along the rim, with United States of America at the top and One Dime at the bottom. The words are separated by dots and stars, and the mint mark is after the E in One. The middle of the coin has a fasces with an olive branch curled around it, and E Pluribus Unum is on the right side of the fasces.

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.

1941-D Mercury Dime Value

The Denver Mint made 45,634,000 Mercury Dimes in 1941. They all had the D Mint Mark. The value for an MS 68 was pretty low in August 2016 – a mere $423. Only one is known.

• Type: Mercury Dime
• Edge: Reeded – 118 Reeds
• Mint Mark: D
• Place of Minting: Denver
• Year of Minting: 1941
• Face Value: 10 cents
• Highest Price: $5,290 in October 2000
• Quantity Produced: 45,634,000
• Designer: Adolph Weinman
• % Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
• Mass:5g
• Diameter:91mm

Even today, PCGS only estimates that value at $500. An MS 68 FB did way better, selling for $5,290 in October 2000. But since 44 are known, the estimates are down to $1,650 in 2023.

Grading 1941 Mercury Dimes

The top coin appraisers are PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service), NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Company), and ANACS (American Numismatic Association Certification Service). They all use variants of the Sheldon Coin Grading Scale, which goes from PO 1 (Poor) to Mint State 70 (MS 70). Proofs are graded PR by PCGS and PF by NGC. Specimens are graded SP.

With Mercury Dimes, you might see an FB (Full Bands) or FSB (Full Split Bands) grade. This describes the clarity and countability of the leather straps that tie the sticks in the fasces. And in addition to these grades, when you submit coins in bulk, NGC sometimes uses descriptive grades instead of numbers. You can request this for common coins. Let’s review them below.

• Details – Coins that were cleaned, chemically improved, or damaged e.g. XF Details.
• Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) – Cleaned, damaged, or altered MS 60 to MS 70.
• Choice Uncirculated – Cleaned, damaged, or altered MS 63 to MS 70.
• Gem Uncirculated (GEM UNC / BU) – Cleaned, damaged, or altered MS 65 to MS 70.

You might get confused when you look at online auction records because some countries use different lettering systems. For example, the UK uses UNC (Uncirculated) instead of AU (About Uncirculated), and some countries use FDC (Fleur de Coin) instead of MS. If you’re unsure, check the coin details to see which country it was graded in, and where the seller is.

You might also see PL for Proof-Like, DPL for Deep-Proof-Like, or DMPL for Deep-Mirror-Proof-Like. These shiny mirror-like coins were struck on non-proof planchets using non-proof dies, which means the dies and planchets were not polished or burnished before the coins were struck. They’re part of the regular strike, but have sharp details and a satin-finish.

1941 Mercury Dime Errors List

Mint errors can raise the investment value of any coin, and at least 20 are listed by Cherry Pickers. The most common ones are doubling or tripling errors when the second or third strike lands on a slightly different spot from the first strike. They happen if the planchet or the die move in mid-strike. Off-center errors are when the planchet shifts before striking.

1941 (P) Mercury Dime DDO

DDO means doubled-die obverse. It happens when the die moves between strikes by the obverse hub, so the second impression is slightly misaligned and seems doubled. The error is then reproduced in every coin that die makes. In March 2019, an MS 65 DDO sold for $2,695 but PCGS estimates the 2023 value as just $250. An MS 67+ FB PL was $466 in June 2022.

1941-D Mercury Dime DDO and DDR

When a coin has multiple mint mistakes, its value rises exponentially. And this coin had doubled-dies on both its obverse and its reverse, so it’s a premium variety. That said, lots of them exist in high grades, so an MS 67 was only $167 in November 2020. But an MS 67 FB was $650 in March 2019 since PCGS has only graded four MS 67 FBs and about 200 MS 66s.

1941-S Mercury Dime RPM S/S Error

RPM means re-punched mint mark. It’s a doubling error that happens when the second or third strike of the hand punch is slightly off. You’ll see some traces of the earlier mint mark underneath. In December 2012, one MS 66 S/S FB – the FS-501 – was $499. Another S/S variety – the FS-502 – was also graded MS 66 S/S FB and sold for $1,750 in March 2022.

1942/1 Mercury Dime Overdate

We often call this error an overdate because we can see the 1 under the 2. But according to mint records, it’s a DDO because the die was struck first with a 1942 obverse hub then later with a 1941 hub. You can find the error in both Denver and Philadelphia Dimes. In January 2023, an MS 67+ sold for $90,000, down from $120,000 for an MS 66 FB in January 2018.

1941 Mercury Dime FAQs

Is a 1941 Mercury Dime Rare?

Not generally, but some key dates are conditionally rare. The 1941 Proof Mercury Dime is harder to find because they only made 16,557 compared to 175M business strikes that year.