1920-D 10C MS62 Certification #29206851, PCGS #4930

Charles Morgan

While the "Spanish" flu pandemic began to recede by 1920, its shadow remained draped over Denver. The preceding 18 months had been a grueling preview of modern pandemic life: mask mandates, shuttered businesses, and the bitter fruit of isolation. Frustration boiled over, manifesting as scapegoating of immigrant communities—a precursor to the anti-immigrant and anti-labor politics that the Ku Klux Klan would soon exploit to dominate the city.

This social friction ignited in August 1920, just blocks from the Denver Mint. A tramway workers' strike for higher wages turned into a deadly riot when strikebreakers arrived. Seven people were killed, buildings were torched, and order was only restored after hundreds of federal troops moved in to quell the violence that the mayor’s citizen militia could not.

The Silver Crisis and the Mint's Response

Against this backdrop of civil unrest, the Denver Mint faced a global economic storm. While the flu likely impacted labor, it was the "silver fever" of 1920 that truly dictated coinage operations.

In February 1920, silver prices skyrocketed to $1.38 per ounce, driving the metal's intrinsic value higher than the face value of the coins themselves. In Europe, silver disappeared into hoards; in the U.S., the Treasury scrambled to release silver dollars for Asian export to stabilize the market.

When the bubble burst in May, the government pivoted. Under the Pittman Act of 1918, the Treasury began aggressively repurchasing silver. This led to a dramatic shift in production:

• The Melting Pot: Millions of silver dollars were melted down to be reborn as subsidiary coinage.
• Denver’s Role: The Denver Mint converted nearly 2.6 million ounces of silver into over 24 million coins to meet the sudden surge in demand.

1920 Denver Mint Coin Production

Despite the chaos of the riots and a volatile silver market, the Denver Mint was simultaneously undergoing a massive modernization. Drawing inspiration from the Philadelphia Mint, leadership overhauled the melting furnaces and sweeps cellars to improve efficiency. During this time, the Mint limited its 1920 production to minor and silver denominations up to the half dollar, as it had not struck gold since 1914.

• Lincoln "Wheat" Cent (BN #2525, RB #2526, RD #2527) | Mintage: 49,280,000 | Scarce above MS65RD.
• Buffalo Nickel (#3945) | Mintage: 9,418,000 | Scarce above MS65.
• Mercury Dime (#4930, FB #4931) | Mintage: 19,171,000
• Standing Liberty Quarter (#5736 , FH #5737) | Mintage: 3,586,400
• Walking Liberty Half Dollar (#6581) | Mintage: 1,551,000 | Rare above MS65.

The 1920-D Mercury Dime: A Collecting Story

While the 1920-D Mercury Dime is scarcer than the Philadelphia issue, it is not quite as elusive as the 1920-S (#4932, #4933). Given the mintage disparity—Denver struck over 19 million dimes while San Francisco produced fewer than 14 million—one would expect a wider gap in PCGS population data. Clearly, neither branch mint met the production standards of Philadelphia, and far fewer Denver and San Francisco coins were preserved in high grades. For collectors of Full Band (FB) Mercury dimes, the 1920-D poses no greater challenge than any other pre-1934 date. While regular strikes outnumber Full Bands, they do not do so by a wide margin. Gem examples survive in a variety of states, from those with spectacular toning to others in brilliant blast white.

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