The 1931-S Mercury Dime was born during some very tough times… The United States and much of the world had plunged into the depths of the Great Depression. The prolonged period of economic malaise is often bookended by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 at the beginning and generally concluded by the time of World War II in 1939 – with the United States getting involved in that international conflict in 1941. Any way the Great Depression is examined, it was a bad time for millions, causing deep economic ripples that forever shaped how a generation of people lived, worked, and viewed the world. The Great Depression also had a significant impact on how coin production carried forth in the United States.
Of the coin denominations ranging from the one cent coin to the dollar, only the lowly “penny” saw continuous production throughout the duration of the Great Depression. The nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, and silver dollar all experienced production hiatuses due to declining demand for new coinage, particularly during the years 1929 through 1933. As for the dime, none were made in 1932 or 1933, with greatly reduced production in 1930 and 1931; of the two latter years, the 1931 Mercury Dimes witnessed some of the lowest mintages of the series. And that’s why the 1931 Mercury Dimes are noticeably more valuable than other issues from that period. Among the scarcest of those is the 1931-S Mercury Dime, which hailed from the San Francisco Mint.
The 1931-S Mercury Dime had a mintage of only 1,800,000, meaning it saw only marginally higher mintages than the 1921 and 1921-D semi-key issues from earlier in the series. And when it comes to pricing, the 1931-S is no slouch in value. Even in moderately circulated grades, the coin fetches notable premiums above its silver melt value. But it’s in the Mint State grades where the coin’s scarceness really comes to the fore. An example in MS63 sells for around $250, with MS65 specimens going for $400. Meanwhile, an MS65FB specimen, denoting an example with fully struck center bands around the fasces motif on the reverse, are quite rare and tend to notch a solid $3,250.