1929

Philadelphia produced 25,970,000 dimes in 1929, a healthy run that arrived just before the October stock market crash that ended the Coolidge-era boom. The coin circulated steadily through the early Depression and into the 1930s, and survivors are abundant in mid-circulated grades. Mint State coins exist in respectable quantities, supported by scattered original rolls that came down through the hobby across the following decades. Strike quality on the 1929 Philadelphia tends to run strong, and a meaningful share of certified Mint State examples carry the Full Bands designation. Type and date collectors regularly target this issue when seeking a sharply struck representative of the design at moderate cost, and the date remains one of the more accessible Philadelphia entries of the late 1920s run.

The Adolph A. Weinman type continues with Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap on the obverse and the fasces wrapped by an olive branch on the reverse. Composition holds at 90 percent silver, 10 percent copper, 2.5 grams, 17.9 millimeters, with a reeded edge. The Full Bands (FB) designation from Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) requires the two horizontal bands at the center of the fasces to show full and clean separation. Authentication priorities include checking the obverse cheek for original frost, examining the wing feathers and the lower fasces wraps for high-point friction, and inspecting the fields at angled light for hairlines that indicate past cleaning. The die-flow grain in the fields should appear fine and granular under magnification.

The 1929 is a friendly date through MS-65 FB, with PCGS and NGC populations thinning meaningfully above MS-67. Gem-plus examples produce regular results at Heritage Auctions and Stack's Bowers Galleries. Buyers should match expected prices against current Heritage Auctions and Stack's Bowers Galleries records before committing to a purchase. Read the full Mercury Dime series history.