1944 Mercury Dime

The story of the 1944

Output at Philadelphia climbed to 231,410,000 in 1944, from 192 million the year before. The next year it made 159 million (1945).

It was the big producer of the year, well ahead of 1944-S (49 million) and 1944-D (62 million).

Of the 27 Mercury Dimes Philadelphia struck between 1916 and 1945, none was made in bigger numbers. The scarcest Philadelphia issue is the 1921 at 1,230,000. No Mercury Dime of the 1940s had a bigger run.

More on the 1944

Philadelphia's 231,410,000 dimes of 1944 are the highest mintage of the entire Mercury dime series. Wartime commerce needed small change in enormous quantities. The three mints together made more than 343 million dimes dated 1944.

Because so many were struck and so many were saved, the 1944 is one of the easiest Mercury dimes to find in any grade, including bright uncirculated condition. Worn coins are valued for their silver, 0.0723 troy ounces each. Full-band uncirculated examples are readily available too and bring only a small premium. Check any 1944 for a mint mark at the lower left of the fasces: no letter means Philadelphia, while D and S coins of 1944 are also common. If you're sorting a large group of old silver dimes, expect to see many of this date. It is a good coin for learning how Mercury dimes wear, since examples in every grade are easy to compare side by side.

Wartime records, the overdates and the last year (1942 to 1945)

World War II pushed dime production to record levels. Philadelphia struck 205,410,000 in 1942 and 231,410,000 in 1944, the highest mintage of the series. The three mints together made 1,223,928,000 Mercury dimes dated 1942 to 1945. Even the smallest issue of the era, the 1945-D, came to 40,245,000. Unlike the nickel, the dime kept its 90% silver alloy throughout the war.

The famous 1942/1 overdates belong here. One working die at Philadelphia and one at Denver received an impression from a 1941 hub and then another from a 1942 hub, leaving traces of a 1 under the final 2. The Philadelphia coin was found in circulation and reported in 1943. It is the bolder of the two. The Denver version is fainter and was not reported in print until 1960. Both are included in their regular mintages and carry a significant premium. Proof dimes ended with 22,329 struck in 1942 and proof coinage stopped for the rest of the war.

After President Franklin Roosevelt died in April 1945, the Treasury chose the dime for his portrait and the Mercury design ended with the 1945 coins. Two things to check on the late dates: the 1945 Philadelphia dime is very common but rarely found with fully split bands. The 1945-S comes with a normal S or a much smaller Micro S, made with a punch first cut for coins struck for the Philippines.

Elsewhere in US coinage in 1944

Cents went back to a copper alloy, partly made from recycled cartridge cases ("shell-case brass"). A few leftover steel planchets produced the rare 1944 steel cents.