I inherited 2 almost complete mercury dime collections. One is missing only the 16 D and the other is missing only the 16 D, 21, 21 D, and 31 D. I won' be buying the 16 D's but I am interested in buying the other 3 coins in a low grade, as most older ones I have are this grade. I have been to several coin shows and there is a huge price difference between the 21's compared to the 31. I can get a 31 D for less than 10 dollars but the cheapest 21's are in the 40 to 50 dollar range.....all in G or VG grade. Why the difference when the mintage is only slightly more for the 31? I read 1.1 and 1.2 million for the 21, and 1.3 million for the 31. Any ideas?
It dosen't matter how many were minted at the time, they're silver and some (many?) are melted down, its about how many exist today, and in what grades.
The total number from Philadelphia and Denver mints, combined, in 1921 was 2,310,000 compared to three mints striking mercs in 1931, combined, 6,210,000. Dsmith is correct on some, or many, being melted; however, no one knows exactly how many from each year were melted, just like the number of Morgan and Peace dollars that may have been melted when the Mint stopped the release in the early 60s. No one knows exactly the number that were melted.
