1929 Dime Coin Value: Errors List, “D”, “S” & No Mint Mark Worth

1929 Dime value ranges from $0.10 face value to $33,600. That record was a Grade 68 example sold through Heritage Auctions in August 2025. Upload a photo of yours below for a quick value range based on condition and mint mark. Scroll down to check recent eBay sales and see what collectors are actually paying right now.

 

1929 Dime Value By Variety

Mint location matters more than most collectors expect. A 1929 dime from Philadelphia, Denver, or San Francisco may look nearly identical in hand, but each has its own supply story and collector demand — and that gap gets obvious once you factor in Full Bands designation.

If you know the grade of your coin, you can find the exact price below in the Value Guides section.

Also Read: Top 70+ Most Valuable Mercury Dimes Worth Money (Chart By Year)

Top 10 Most Valuable 1929 Dime Worth Money

The 1929-S FB graded MS68 holds the top spot at $33,600. That’s a coin that had everything go right — sharp strike, pristine surfaces, and nearly a century of survival without a serious hit. Finding any Mercury dime in MS68 FB is tough. Finding a San Francisco one? That’s a completely different kind of rare.

Full Bands certification is the big multiplier here. Look at the 1929-D: the FB MS68 reached $29,900, while the non-FB MS68 sold for $8,913. Same date, same grade number, and a $21,000 gap. Across all three mints, every grade step at the top end carries serious money. The spread between mid-range and gem examples is never small with this date.

History Of The 1929 Dime

By 1929, Adolph Weinman’s Mercury Dime design had been circulating for over a decade. The winged Liberty cap reminded everyone of the Roman god Mercury, and the nickname stuck permanently.

This was a big production year. All three mints — Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco — were cranking out dimes at full speed, something that wouldn’t happen again until 1934. Denver struck no dimes at all in 1930, and total production across both remaining mints fell well below ten million.

The Wall Street Crash hit in late October. Black Thursday on the 24th and Black Tuesday on the 29th brought steep losses and record trading volumes. Coinage contracted fast.

Philadelphia’s 1930 output dropped to just 26% of its 1929 total. The 1930-S mintage came in at less than 40% of the 1929-S figure. No dimes were struck anywhere in 1932 or 1933. That makes 1929 the last year all three mints ran at a pre-Depression pace — a quiet but concrete milestone in the series.

Also Read: Mercury Dime Coin Value (1916-1945)

Is Your 1929 Dime Rare?

Here’s what catches people off guard: Denver had a much smaller mintage than Philadelphia, yet both show roughly the same number of survivors. Collectors likely set Denver coins aside early on because of that lower mintage. San Francisco, despite having the fewest struck, also has the fewest surviving — about 6,000 — making high-grade examples the hardest to track down. The Full Bands versions are where rarity really spikes across all three mints.

The Coin Identifier and Value App covers the full spectrum — take a photo of your coin and get a clear read on where it stands.

Key Features Of The 1929 Dime

Both sides of the 1929 Mercury Dime reward close inspection. Here’s what to look for when you’re examining one.

The Obverse Of The 1929 Dime

You’ll see a young Liberty facing left, wearing a winged Phrygian cap. Weinman intended the wings to represent “liberty of thought” — not the god Mercury, despite the lasting nickname.

The model is widely believed to have been Elsie Stevens, wife of lawyer and poet Wallace Stevens, who was a tenant in an apartment building owned by Weinman. Weinman never publicly confirmed this, and no one formally claimed to have been the model during his lifetime.

“LIBERTY” is widely spaced along the top rim. “IN GOD WE TRUST” appears at the lower left, and the date sits beneath Liberty’s neck truncation at the lower right. Look for Weinman’s monogram “AW” on the obverse, midway between the date and the letter Y in “LIBERTY”.

The Reverse Of The 1929 Dime

Weinman explained his reverse intent directly: “I have selected the motive of the fasces and olive branch to symbolize the strength which lies in unity, while the battle-ax stands for preparedness to defend the Union. The branch of olive is symbolical of our love of peace”.

The reverse elements and their placement:

• Fasces (center) — a bundle of rods with an axe, a symbol of the Roman Republic representing the power of unity and law
• Bands — a set of bands surrounds the fasces at the top, middle, and bottom of the bundle; the central pair is a high point on the coin’s design and the basis for the Full Bands designation
• Olive branch (encircling the fasces) — symbolizing peace
• Mint mark — “D” for Denver and “S” for San Francisco, located on the reverse near the rim; Philadelphia coins carry no mint mark
• Inscriptions — “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, “ONE DIME”, and “E PLURIBUS UNUM”

Other Features Of The 1929 Dime

The 1929 Mercury Dime is composed of 90% silver and 10% copper, with a total weight of 2.5 grams and a silver content of 0.07234 troy ounces. The diameter is 17.9 mm, and the edge is reeded.

Flip it over and notice how the reverse lettering is in Roman style and kept deliberately small. Weinman wanted the symbolic imagery front and center, not competing with text.

Also Read: Top 100 Rarest Dimes Worth Money (Most Expensive)

1929 Dime Mintage & Survival Data

Philadelphia pumped out 25,970,000 dimes in 1929 — more than double Denver and San Francisco combined. To put that in perspective, if you stacked all those Philly dimes edge to edge, they’d stretch over 280 miles.

Yet the survival numbers tell a different story. Philadelphia and Denver each show about 10,000 surviving examples, while San Francisco sits around 6,000. Denver’s survival rate of 0.1986% is more than five times Philadelphia’s 0.0385%, likely because collectors recognized the lower mintage early and tucked coins away.

San Francisco has both the fewest coins struck and the fewest survivors. In MS65 and above, all three mints are scarce — but San Francisco pieces are the toughest to find at the top grades.

Also Read: Top 100 Most Valuable Roosevelt Dimes Worth Money List (Year Chart)

The Easy Way to Know Your 1929 Dime Value

Three things drive what your 1929 Mercury Dime is worth: the mint mark, the grade, and whether it still has original luster. On a coin pushing 100 years old, each of those can push the price in very different directions.

Watch out for cleaning. It strips the natural surface and gets flagged as “improper cleaning” by graders. Even if the coin looks bright, a cleaned example takes a serious hit in value.

Want a quick answer on your specific coin? The Coin Identifier and Value App lets you photograph your coin directly and get a value estimate on the spot — no manual lookups, no cross-referencing multiple sources.

1929 Dime Value Guides

Each of the three 1929 mint issues plays a different role in the collector market. Here’s how they break down:

• 1929 No Mint Mark Dime — common in circulated grades and readily available through MS66, but tough in MS67 and above
• 1929-D Dime — the most valuable of the three in extremely fine and about uncirculated conditions, where it is comparatively scarce
• 1929-S Dime — a tad more valuable than Denver in mint state; San Francisco examples are the rarest at the top grades

What each variety is actually worth depends on the specific grade and whether Full Bands applies. The sections below cover all three in detail.

1929 No Mint Mark Dime Value

Most 1929 Philadelphia dimes you’ll run across are circulated or low mint state. That’s no surprise with a mintage north of 25 million. Full Bands specimens are relatively plentiful through MS65 because most of these coins got a solid strike.

The top end is where things get interesting. A standard MS67 sits at $650. Add Full Bands at the same grade and you’re looking at $1,450 — more than double. The population drops off hard once you cross that MS67 threshold.

Look for original mint luster and clean surfaces free of heavy bag marks. Coins with attractive natural toning pull premiums, and strike quality matters — a mushy strike drags the price down even if the surfaces are nice.

The table below lists all confirmed historical auction results for this issue.

Rare 1929 Dime Error List

All three mints were running at high volume in 1929. That’s exactly when errors slip through — just enough to keep cherrypickers busy nearly a century later.

Here are the six most collectible error types known on 1929 Mercury dimes.

1. 1929-S DDO FS-101 Error

A doubled die obverse happens during die-making, not striking. If the hub shifts between impressions, a secondary image gets locked into the die itself. Every coin struck from that die carries the same raised, three-dimensional doubling on letter serifs and date digits.

Don’t confuse this with machine doubling. That’s flat and shelf-like. No premium there.

The 1929-S DDO FS-101 is the only documented and PCGS-attributed doubled die variety for the entire 1929 series, covering both standard MS and Full Bands designations. PCGS values an MS65 at $400, while an FB65 reaches $750.

To cherrypick one, grab your 10× loupe and focus on the date and obverse legend. Always confirm against the Cherrypickers’ Guide FS-101 listing before making any value claim.

2. 1929 Broadstruck Error

A broadstruck coin got struck outside the retaining collar — the steel ring that creates the reeded edge and keeps metal from spreading. Without it, the planchet expands freely. You get a coin wider than the standard 17.9mm with a smooth edge, flattened rim, and design detail that thins toward the edges.

Both 1929-D and 1929-S broadstruck examples have been certified and sold at auction. One thing to watch: if any reeding survives on the edge, it’s more accurately a partial collar strike. Post-mint damage can also mimic the spread look.

Get professional certification before assigning value. Confirmed broadstruck Mercury dimes are genuinely scarce, and high-grade examples with strong central detail draw consistent demand.

3. 1929 Die Crack Error

Every strike adds stress to a die. Eventually a fracture forms, and from that point on, every planchet picks up the same raised line — a permanent record of that die wearing out.

On 1929 Mercury dimes, cracks show up most often as fine raised lines crossing the obverse field or running through the reverse fasces. Severity matters a lot. A faint hairline gets modest interest. A bold crack running across most of the die face can turn an ordinary coin into a real conversation piece.

Tilt the coin under a light. A true die crack stands raised above the surface — that’s how you separate it from incuse lamination flaws or post-mint scratches. Well-placed, dramatic examples on 1929 dimes are a fun entry point into error collecting.

4. 1929 Off-Center Strike Error

When a planchet doesn’t seat properly before the hammer drops, the strike lands off target. You get a crescent of smooth, unstruck silver on one side and a compressed, shifted design on the other. The further off-center, the more dramatic it looks.

The sweet spot for collectors is 20% or greater displacement with the full date still readable. A legible date confirms the coin’s identity and anchors the value.

Check the unstruck area carefully. On a genuine off-center coin, it has the consistent luster of a fresh planchet. Post-mint damage produces irregular, uneven surfaces. Dramatic Mercury dime off-center strikes with visible dates have reached several hundred dollars at auction, with exceptional examples going higher.

5. 1929 Repunched Mintmark (RPM) Error

Before 1990, mintmarks were hand-punched onto working dies. If the first blow landed slightly off, the engraver corrected with a second punch at a different angle. Both impressions stayed in the die — and every coin from that die carries the ghost of the first punch alongside the primary mintmark.

On 1929-D and 1929-S dimes, look for a faint notch or shadow offset north, south, or at a rotated angle from the primary mark. A true RPM shows a crisp, raised secondary image. Die deterioration doubling is flat — no premium.

Value depends on visibility and grade. For reference, a 1944-S/S RPM graded MS67 FB realized $8,225 at Heritage Auctions. A well-attributed 1929-S or 1929-D RPM in problem-free circulated condition is already a solid find.

6. 1929 Clipped Planchet Error

When the blanking punch overlaps a previously punched hole in the silver strip, the resulting planchet is missing a curved section — a curved clip. A straight clip happens when the punch reaches the strip’s edge.

Here’s the diagnostic trick: look for the Blakesley effect. The rim directly opposite the clip appears weak or missing because of reduced striking pressure at that point. That’s what separates a genuine clip from post-mint edge damage.

Value scales with clip size and design legibility. A larger clip can bring around $200, while a minor 5% clip may fetch only $5. Dramatic examples with full date visibility and a clear Blakesley effect push well beyond average. Professional certification is recommended before assigning meaningful value.

Where To Sell Your 1929 Dime?

Knowing your coin’s value is step one. Picking the right venue — with proper authentication, fair commissions, and access to serious buyers — is what actually gets you a good price.

Check out now: Best Places To Sell Coins Online (Pros & Cons)  

1929 Dime Market Trend

Market interest: 3,310 collectors tracking this coin as of Oct 2026 — up 1,000 from Mar 2026. 12-month peak: 3,770 (Jan 2026).

*Market Trend Chart showing the number of people paying attention to this coin.

FAQ About The 1929 Dime

1. What is a 1929 Mercury dime worth in circulated condition?

The silver content — 0.07234 troy ounces of 90% silver — sets a floor around $6. After that, grade takes over. A Fine Philadelphia example runs about $7.00, Denver reaches $10.50, and San Francisco $8.83. Even a modest jump from Fine to AU can more than double those figures depending on the mint.

2. Which 1929 dime is the most valuable?

The 1929-S holds the series record. An MS68 FB example sold for $33,600 — a price driven by how rarely San Francisco coins survive in gem quality. The 1929-D FB MS68 follows at $29,900, confirmed at Heritage Auctions in August 2010.

3. What does “Full Bands” (FB) mean, and why does it matter?

Flip the coin over and look at the fasces. Full Bands means the central set of bands shows a complete split down the middle — proof of a sharp, well-executed strike. Many early branch-mint issues, especially from the teens and 1920s, got weak strikes and don’t show full separation.

For 1929 dimes, the FB premium is huge: a 1929-S MS65 is valued at $275 without FB, and $625 with it — more than double for the same numerical grade.

4. How do the three 1929 mints compare in terms of rarity?

Philadelphia struck the most and dominates circulated supply. Denver and San Francisco each came in well under 5.1 million, with San Francisco’s mintage the lowest.

Survival estimates are closer than you’d expect — Philadelphia and Denver each show around 10,000 surviving examples, while San Francisco sits near 6,000. San Francisco is the rarest at high grades, where strike quality was less consistent.

5. Is a 1929 dime rare?

In circulated grades, no. A Fine example from any mint starts under $11. Rarity kicks in as grade climbs. The Philadelphia issue has been graded as high as MS68, but examples at that level are genuinely scarce. The 1929-S tops out around MS68 in the standard strike, with an auction record of just $1,438 — showing how rarely these coins reach the market at that level.

6. What is the only confirmed error variety attributed on 1929 Mercury dimes?

The 1929-S DDO FS-101 — the single documented and PCGS-attributed doubled die obverse for the 1929 series. Doubling is most visible on the date and obverse legend. An MS65 is valued at $400; the FB65 reaches $750.

7. How do I find the mintmark on a 1929 Mercury dime?

Look on the reverse, near the bottom rim, to the left of the fasces. Denver coins carry a “D” and San Francisco coins an “S.” Philadelphia used no mintmark throughout the Mercury series. No mintmark means Philadelphia — not a missing mintmark error.

8. Should I clean my 1929 Mercury dime?

No. Don’t do it. Even a bright, attractive-looking surface that’s been polished or wiped will get flagged as “improperly cleaned” by graders and assigned a details grade. That crushes market value. Original surfaces — including natural toning — are what collectors and grading services reward. Leave it as found.

9. How does the 1929 dime fit historically within the Mercury series?

It was the last year all three mints ran at pre-Depression speed. The Wall Street Crash started in late October 1929, and coinage contracted fast. Most Mercury dime issues from 1916 through 1931 are much scarcer than those made from 1934 onward, and none was issued in 1932 or 1933. The 1929 coins hit circulation right as that era ended.

10. Are 1929 Mercury dimes a good long-term collecting investment?

We think the 1929 series has two things working for it. The 90% silver composition gives you a melt value floor tied to the metals market. On top of that, collector demand and historical significance create real appreciation potential.

The strongest case is at the upper grades. The 1929-D FB MS68 CAC realized $29,900, and the 1929-S FB MS68 holds the series record at $33,600. Problem-free FB survivors at MS65 and above offer both collector appeal and solid long-term liquidity.