1916-D Key Date Mercury Dime VG8 PCGS High-End! So many examples of the key-date 1916-D dime appear (if at all) in the lowest grades of Fair 2 (Poor 1 are scarcely recognizable), AG3, and Good 4. And regardless of grade, even the PCGS-certified examples often show ugly, dark-gold or charcoal toning, prominent scratches, or other problems. This is a nice silver-white Very Good 8 example that shows none of those issues, making it a high-end survivor of this tiny mintage of 264,000 pieces.
Background: The 1916-D dime largely survives either in grades of VG or below or AU and above. The 1916-D dimes were released in early 1917, and there was little interest in collecting by mintmark until the 1930s. Survival of high-grade examples was a matter of chance. The lower-grade circulated pieces were mostly found in circulation in the 1940s to 1960s.
