All proof Mercury dimes were struck with a brilliant finish, unlike the Lincoln cent and Buffalo nickel, which during the first part of 1936 were made with matte finishes more closely resembling the appearance of nice business-strike examples.

Production of proof Mercury dimes grew essentially year over year only a few thousand examples were struck in each 19, though by the early 1940s each proof issue saw more than 10,000 examples being made. The United States Mint proof coin program would not begin again in earnest until 1936, a year that many in the hobby note as the beginning of the modern proof coin era.

What explains the truncated period of proof Mercury dime production? The Mercury dime series began in 1916, a time when the United States Mint was phasing out the routine production of proof coins, which appeared with regularity beginning during the mid 19th century. Proof Mercury dimes were struck from 1936 through 1942, a rather short period of years that most astute series enthusiasts will see without the blink of an eye was but a fraction of this long-running series? overall production timeframe.