VINTAGE 1935 1938 1939 Mercury Dime Lot 11 Silver Coins D S Mints Depression Era

Eleven genuine Mercury dimes from 1935, 1938 and 1939 — a wonderful little collection of American silver coins from the final years of the Great Depression and the eve of World War II.

This lot includes:

• 3 – 1935, Philadelphia Mint (no mintmark)
• 1 – 1935-S, San Francisco Mint
• 1 – 1938-S, San Francisco Mint
• 1 – 1939, Philadelphia Mint (no mintmark)
• 4 – 1939-D, Denver Mint
• 1 – 1939-S, San Francisco Mint

That's 11 Mercury dimes in all, each struck in 90% silver.

The 1939 coins are especially fun as a group: Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco are all represented.

These are circulated coins and show the honest evidence of having been used as money. Expect wear, scratches, marks, toning and discoloration as shown. Some retain considerably more detail than others. Please examine the photographs carefully; the eleven coins pictured are the eleven coins you will receive.

And what years these were to have a dime in your pocket.

In 1935, America was still deep in the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House, the New Deal was reshaping American life, and for millions of families, ten cents was real money.

A dime could buy a cup of coffee, a simple meal component, a newspaper or a little bit of entertainment. Eleven dimes represented $1.10 — an amount that would have mattered considerably more to the person carrying it in 1935 than it does today.

By 1938 and 1939, America was slowly emerging from the worst of the Depression, but events overseas were becoming increasingly ominous.

Then, in September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and war began in Europe.

America would remain officially outside that war for another two years, but the world had changed.

These dimes sit right at that remarkable dividing line.

They didn't spend their lives tucked safely away in a collection. Judging by their wear, they passed from hand to hand and pocket to pocket while ordinary Americans were working, shopping, traveling, saving and getting by during one of the most consequential periods in modern history.

Who carried them? What did they buy? Where did they go?

We'll never know.

But more than 85 years later, they're still here — eleven small pieces of Depression-era America, still containing the silver from which they were struck.

Shipping included in the US.