1918-S 10C N1 Certification #57247072, PCGS #4920

Poor grading by PCGS, Encapsulation destroyed.

Charles Morgan

United States Mint records reveal that San Francisco utilized 73 obverse and 66 reverse dies to strike 19,300,000 1918-S Mercury Dimes (#4920, #4921). While it is a testament to the skill of the coiners that the average die survived more than 277,000 impressions, such high-volume production required compromises. Consequently, the 1918-S is typically characterized by a soft strike, making Full Bands (FB) examples—especially in Gem grades—exceptionally difficult to locate. According to PCGS population data, Mint State coins without Full Bands outnumber those that do by a 4:1 ratio. Despite this discrepency, the grade distribution follows a remarkably similar pattern for both categories. The population peaks at MS64, before dropping by about 50% for MS65. This "Gem" cliff continues in the higher grades. Superb Gems are truly outliers and MADHATTER's PCGS MS67+FB example is the single finest known in either category.

Vintage Market Snippet

• April 1976: New York dealer Joel D. Coen offered choice BU 1918-S Mercury Dimes for $150 in The Numismatist.

 

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David Hall

Like most of the early Mercury dimes, the 1918-S is not really rare in circulated grades. In mint state this is a rare issue with or without fully struck crossbands. About 35% of mint state survivors have full bands. Gem MS65 or better full band specimens are very rare.