1926-S

San Francisco issued just 1,520,000 dimes in 1926, a sharply restricted branch-mint figure that lands the date in semi-key territory alongside the 1921 and 1921-D issues. The low mintage reflects reduced Western demand for subsidiary silver that year and stands well below several other San Francisco dates of the same era. The coin circulated heavily through the late 1920s and the Depression, and surviving examples skew strongly toward Good through Very Fine grades. Mint State coins exist in limited supply, and the grade-distribution profile favors lower Mint State levels with steep drop-offs above MS-64. The Full Bands population is extremely scarce in absolute terms, and certified gem FB examples are among the more elusive coins of the entire series despite the comparatively well-known nature of the date.

The Adolph A. Weinman type continues with the winged Liberty obverse and the fasces-and-olive-branch reverse. Composition holds at 90 percent silver, 10 percent copper, 2.5 grams, 17.9 millimeters, with a reeded edge. The S mintmark appears on the reverse to the left of the fasces base. The Full Bands (FB) designation, granted by Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), demands complete separation across the two horizontal bands at the fasces center. Authentication is straightforward but should include mintmark inspection for any signs of tooling, weight verification at 2.5 grams, and a check of the fields for hairlines or unusual brightness that would point to a polished surface. Genuine examples display a fine die-flow grain at magnification across both obverse and reverse fields.

The 1926-S is widely recognized as a semi-key date within the Mercury Dime series, and the grade-distribution observation is striking: Full Bands coins are extremely scarce above MS-64, and PCGS plus NGC populations confirm the thin pyramid above gem. Premium examples have produced strong realizations at Heritage Auctions and Stack's Bowers Galleries. Read the full Mercury Dime series history.