1921-P Mercury Dime
Semi-keyA semi-key. Dime production collapsed in 1921 in the post-war recession, and the Mint struck none at all in 1922. Along with the 1921-D it is the scarcest regular issue of the series after the 1916-D.
Mintage
- Business strikes
- 1,230,000
- Mint
- Philadelphia (no mintmark)
- Mintage rank
- 3 of 77
Rank 1 is the lowest business-strike mintage in the series. Mintage is what the Mint produced, not what survives. These circulated as everyday money for decades, and enormous numbers were melted for their silver after 1965, none of it recorded by date. On this series in particular, strike quality separates the difficult coins far more than mintage does.
Reading the figure
It is the smallest of the 27 Philadelphia issues in the series. Of the 2,310,000 struck across all mints in 1921, this issue accounts for 53%. The 1921 split ran Philadelphia 1,230,000 and Denver 1,080,000. The series median is 19,480,000, so fewer than half as many of these were struck as a typical date. Series-wide output fell that year: 2,310,000 against 92,021,000 in 1920. 1921 was the smallest production year of the entire series. In 1921 the coin was struck at Philadelphia and Denver; San Francisco struck none.
Every sentence above is computed from the mintage table on this page, not asserted separately.
Scarcity tier
Semi-key
Assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 is a key date, under 2,500,000 is a semi-key.
This is a reproducible label derived from the mintage column, not a market valuation and not a Coin Curator price opinion. The same thresholds apply to every series on this site. Several dates are far harder or far easier to obtain than their mintage implies; where that is true, it is stated above.
Recent sold prices
Last checked Sep 16, 2026 · most recent sale Sep 13, 2026What certified 1921-P Mercury dimes actually sold for on eBay in the last 90 days, grouped by grade band. Every figure below is a completed sale of a PCGS, NGC or ANACS coin in a straight grade. This is a record of what changed hands, not a price guide, an appraisal, or a prediction of what yours is worth.
Good to Fine
PO1 to F15$65
Median of 16 sales
- Lowest
- $30
- Highest
- $240
The 4 most recent sales
- $100PCGS G6 · Sep 13, 20261921 Mercury Dime - 10c PCGS G6 - PCGS Gold Shield
- $235PCGS F15 · Sep 7, 20261921 Mercury Dime - 10c PCGS F15 - Key Date!
- $55PCGS AG3 · Sep 7, 20261921 Mercury Dime - PCGS AG03 Low Ball Semi Key Date of the Series Nice Look
- $105PCGS VG8 · Sep 5, 20261921 Mercury Dime PCGS Graded VG08 Key Date
Seller titles, verbatim. An ended eBay listing stays readable for about 90 days, so older links will expire.
Very Fine to XF
VF20 to XF45$339
Median of 5 sales
- Lowest
- $310
- Highest
- $595
The 4 most recent sales
- $339NGC VF20 · Aug 23, 20261921 Mercury Dime 10c 90% Silver Key Date NGC VF-20 Bullion Plus Throwback
- $520NGC XF40 · Aug 14, 20261921‑D Mercury Dime - NGC XF40 - Key Date - Strong Circulated Example
- $310NGC VF30 · Aug 12, 20261921 10C NGC VF30 Mercury Dime - Original Semi-Key Date
- $325PCGS VF25 · Aug 6, 20261921 Mercury Dime, PCGS VF25 Gold Shield Key Date
Seller titles, verbatim. An ended eBay listing stays readable for about 90 days, so older links will expire.
How to read these
- The median is the middle sale after removing outliers. The range is every sale kept, including the outliers, so you can see how wide the market actually is.
- Grade drives most of the difference. A band with three sales tells you far less than a band with thirty, and the count is shown so you can weigh it.
- Sales of coins in “Details”, “Genuine” or cleaned holders are excluded, as are proofs, replicas, lots, and mounted coins. Those sell at prices that would not describe the coin on this page.
- So is any sale priced below what this same date fetches in a lower grade, which is impossible for a real coin and is how a counterfeit in a convincing holder gives itself away.
Coin Curator does not grade, authenticate, or appraise coins, and holds no licensed price guide or population data. How this data is collected.
Full Bands is a strike designation, not a grade. The reverse shows a fasces, and the two horizontal bands around its centre are the last detail to strike up. Read the full note on the series page.
What to check before buying
Specific to the 1921-P:
- 1This is one of the dates where a Full Bands strike is genuinely difficult. Judge the bands from the photographs yourself rather than from the description, and expect most examples not to have them.
And for any certified coin
Verify the certification number on the grading service’s own lookup rather than from a photograph of the label, match the listing images to the certification record including grade and any variety attribution, look for cleaning, compare the mintmark against published photographs of the genuine issue, and read the return policy before buying. The grading guide covers each of these in full.
Coin Curator does not grade, authenticate, or appraise coins, and holds no licensed price guide or population data. Where this page shows recent sold prices, they are records of completed eBay sales, not a valuation of any particular coin. These are verification steps, not an appraisal.
Verify a certification number
Look a 1921-P certification number up on the service’s own site. A photograph of a label proves nothing.
Each service publishes its own guarantee with conditions and exclusions. Compare PCGS, NGC and ANACS.
Find a 1921-P for sale
Opens an eBay search for this exact date and mint. Coin Curator does not list inventory, hold stock, or set prices; verify each listing, seller, and return policy directly.
Affiliate link: Coin Curator may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Disclosure.
Common questions
How many 1921-P Mercury dimes were minted?
The Philadelphia Mint struck 1,230,000 1921-P Mercury dimes for circulation. That is the 3rd lowest business-strike mintage of the 77 date and mintmark combinations in the series.
Is the 1921-P Mercury dime a key date?
Coin Curator labels it a semi-key, assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 struck is a key date and under 2,500,000 is a semi-key. The same thresholds are used for every series on this site, so the tiers are comparable between them. That label describes production, not market value or how hard the coin is to find today. A semi-key. Dime production collapsed in 1921 in the post-war recession, and the Mint struck none at all in 1922. Along with the 1921-D it is the scarcest regular issue of the series after the 1916-D.
What should I check before buying a 1921-P Mercury dime?
Verify the certification number on the grading service's own lookup page, match the listing photographs to the certification record, check for cleaning, and compare the mintmark shape and position against published photographs of the genuine issue. This is one of the dates where a Full Bands strike is genuinely difficult. Judge the bands from the photographs yourself rather than from the description, and expect most examples not to have them.
Related dates
Guides for this coin
All guides →Mercury Dime Guide: the 1916-D & Full Bands
One of the most beautiful US coins. Most dates are pocket-change cheap, but the 1916-D key and the “Full Bands” strike designation turn this affordable series into a real pursuit.
1 min readMarket ContextJunk Silver vs Graded Silver: How to Think About the Tradeoffs
Pre-1965 US silver coins (junk silver) and certified examples of the same coins respond to different inputs. A framework for researching each one: what to verify, what melt value does and does not cover, and when each is worth a closer look.
1 min readBuying GuideHow to Spot a Counterfeit or Doctored Coin
Use weight, dimensions, surfaces, mintmark details, holder inspection, and certification records as screening checks. Learn the warning signs of altered coins and fake slabs.
1 min readBuying GuideMS-63 vs MS-65 vs MS-67: Which Grade to Actually Buy
Adjacent grades can carry very different market evidence. Learn how to compare surfaces, eye appeal, population data, and current records before choosing a grade.
1 min readMintage sources
Mintage figures are U.S. Mint production records, cross-checked against the published tables below on 2026-07-31. Where those tables disagree, the disagreement is disclosed on the affected page rather than resolved silently.
- CoinMintages.com, Mercury dime mintages — Business strikes and proofs listed separately. Carries no separate row for the 1942/1 overdates, consistent with them having no reported mintage.
- LandOfCoins, Mercury dime mintage — Independent table with business strikes and proofs in separate columns. Agrees on all 77 issues and all seven proof figures.
- Wikipedia, "Mercury dime" — No mintage table, but the source for the 1916-D key-date figure, the 1922/1932/1933 production gaps, and the 1942/1 being a doubled die rather than a separately reported issue.
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