[The following excerpt is published courtesy of DLRC Press and its author, David W. Lange. This information was originally published in 2005 in The Complete Guide to Mercury Dimes]
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MINTAGE: 6,828,000 (Ranking 21/77)
POPULAR VARIETIES: The familiar die crack from wingtip to rim is again evident on some dimes of this date and mint.
RARITY: More common than its low mintage would imply, 1926-D is usually available in all circulated grades through XF. Coins grading AU are slightly scarce, particularly if one is seeking only examples which have original, uncleaned surfaces. Mint State coins are almost always available with peripheral weakness on the reverse; often these possess full bands. Finding one with both full bands and a fully struck legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA will be challenging.
The highest graded 1926-D dimes are two examples certified as MS-67, one having full bands and the other lacking them.
COMMENTS: At one time placed in the same category with 1925-D and 1925-S, this date is far more available in any desired grade and is consistently more appealing. 1926-D dimes seemed to have been manufactured with more care than most denominations of this date and mint, the nickels being particularly bad.
1926-D has been another poor performer in circulated grades over the past 40 years, a condition common to most Mercury Dimes with the exception of the few key dates. In contrast, Mint State coins typically have kept pace with inflation. There is a lesson to be learned in this: Common coins will always be common and will always exist in numbers greater than the demand for them from collectors.
This said, however, there is still a lot of enjoyment to be derived from the collecting of Mercury Dimes in the grades of Fine through Extremely Fine. Locating problem-free examples that have original, uncleaned surfaces is quite challenging for all but the most common dates. With a rich variety of coin albums appearing in recent years, it is evident that many people are still collecting this series in circulated grades. What effect this will have on values in the coming years is impossible to predict.