1925-S

San Francisco produced 5,850,000 dimes in 1925, marking one of the lower branch-mint figures of the mid-decade run. The coin saw heavy use across western commerce through the late 1920s and the Depression years, and surviving examples skew strongly toward Good through Very Fine grades. Strike quality varied widely across the production, with many coins showing pronounced softness at the central fasces and along the wing feathers on the obverse. Mint State coins exist in moderate numbers, but the Full Bands population is genuinely scarce, and gem FB examples are rare in absolute terms. Original rolls did not survive in significant quantities, and the 1925-S has long been treated by series specialists as a date that punches above its mintage figure when seeking high-grade preservation with fully defined central reverse detail.

The type continues from Adolph A. Weinman's 1916 design, with Liberty in a winged Phrygian cap on the obverse and the fasces with an olive branch on the reverse. The planchet is 90 percent silver, 10 percent copper, at 2.5 grams and 17.9 millimeters, with a reeded edge. The S mintmark sits on the reverse, left of the fasces base. The Full Bands (FB) designation, recognized by Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), requires complete separation across the two horizontal bands at the fasces center. Authentication checkpoints include the mintmark integrity and font, weight at the 2.5-gram standard, and an inspection of the fields for hairlines or polished textures that point to past cleaning. Genuine surfaces show a fine die-flow grain under magnification, never a slick or buffed appearance.

PCGS and NGC population reports show the 1925-S thinning fast above MS-64 FB, and certified gem examples have brought strong prices at Heritage Auctions and Stack's Bowers Galleries. Read the full Mercury Dime series history.