1919-D Mercury Dime NGC MS65 Full Bands

1919-D Mercury Dime NGC MS65 Full Bands
Gem World War I Condition Census Rarity

It isn’t every day you see us write about a Dime. Well, maybe if it’s a 1916-D or one of the 1942/1 Overdates we all grew to love when we were first learning about key dates of different series’.
 
Actually, the Mercury Dime was my first jaunt into the world of coin collecting. I absolutely loved Proofs. To me they were some of the most beautiful coins for the money the Mint has ever made.
 
No, this isn’t a Proof that I can remember from my youth – but it’s a coin that got me excited when I was presented with the opportunity to own it.
 
In 1919 there was this treaty signed. It was called the Treaty of Versailles. An agreement between Germany, Britain, Russia, Italy, France and their allied nations to simply stop killing people while they negotiated terms of peace to end the war.
 
This 1919 Mercury Dime, struck a world apart from the conflict, was made in Denver during the 1918-1919 Influenza Epidemic. Think Covid on steroids.
 
So you’ve got war raging globally in the start of 1919 until the Treaty of Versailles in late June. You’ve got basically Covid 19 only 100 years prior (1919 in fact) and there is this lonely coin minted out in a Colorado town. The 1919-D Dime. So forgive us for saying this beast is rare. The world was simply too distracted to care to make it or to salvage it in any kind of high grade at the time.
 
In Gem it is Tied for Finest Known at NGC with the much needed “Full Bands” designation. PCGS has seen a six-pack graded higher but we doubt even that many exist when you account for resubmissions.