1944 Mercury Dime

The Mercury Dime is just one of many coins produced by the US Mint, but is easily one of the more popular coins produced through the first half of the twentieth century.

Though Mercury Dimes are no longer produced by the US Mint, they are still extremely valuable as collector’s items. The following few sections will delve a bit deeper into what exactly makes one Mercury Dime more appealing to a collector than another.

Grading the 1944 Mercury Dime

When it comes to the 1944 Mercury Dime or any other in the collection, collectors will almost always tell you that the most important feature of the coin is the condition it is in. Being that no one desires to add poorly preserved pieces to their collection, it is only right that collectors pour over the surfaces of the coin looking to spot any and all imperfections.

Normally, sending a coin away for grading is a quick and easy way to figure out the exact condition of the coin, but not everyone has this luxury. Because of that, we have provided below a quick outline of the characteristics of graded Mercury Dimes.

Uncirculated: An Uncirculated Mercury Dime is one that spent absolutely no time change hands on the open market. Instead, these coins have been fully preserved and appear as though they were minted a few weeks ago—not many decades earlier. As you could have probably guessed, these are the most sought after types of Mercury Dimes and also the ones that fetch the highest price tags.

Extremely Fine: In Extremely Fine condition, the Mercury Dime in question will appear to be mostly pristine and free of any major signs of wear. Though you will be able to make out some wear and tear under close inspection, the reality of the matter is that very few Extremely Fine Mercury Dimes will show major signs of wear.

Fine: If a Mercury Dime is graded as being Fine, this means that it spent a good amount of time in circulation, but did not incur an overload of damage during that time. These coins will show consistent scratching on the faces, but apart from that will be in mostly nice condition. Another common type of wear found on these coins is the smoothing of raised images and inscriptions.

Good: A Good Mercury Dime is one that was circulated more than most others. During its time exchanging hands, these coins have incurred a lot of heavy damage including chipping, scratching, and bending. Though in poor condition, these coins are still sought after by those collectors looking to put together a complete set of Mercury Dimes.

Pricing the 1944 Mercury Dime

When it comes to giving the 1944 an accurate price, there are few factors that you have to take into consideration. For one, because multiple types of Mercury Dime were minted every year, the scarcity associated with the exact type of Dime will be the first thing affecting price. Secondly, it all comes down to condition. Those Dimes that have been well-preserved will almost always carry a larger price tag than those that have been damaged. Below is a chart that will give you a better idea of what you can expect to pay for a Mercury Dime from 1944 given its condition and type.

Mercury Dimes

DATE	GOOD	FINE	EXTREMELY FINE	UNCIRCULATED
1944 Mercury Dime	$2.25	$3	$3.25	$4.50
1944 Mercury Dime (D)	$2.25	$3	$3.25	$5
1944 Mercury Dime (S)	$2.25	$3	$3.25	$5
Source: Red Book