Mercury Dime

The Mercury Dime is a United States ten-cent coin produced by the U.S. Mint from 1916 through 1945. The obverse shows a left-facing head of Liberty wearing a winged cap, with "LIBERTY" around the rim and "IN GOD WE TRUST" in the lower left field. The reverse displays a fasces — a bundle of rods bound around an axe — entwined with an olive branch, alongside the denomination "ONE DIME." Despite its popular name, the figure is Liberty, not the Roman god Mercury.

The 1943 example shown here is a wartime issue struck in 90% silver and 10% copper. It measures about 17.9 mm in diameter, weighs roughly 2.5 grams, and has a reeded (grooved) edge. The "D" mint mark on the reverse marks it as a product of the Denver Mint.

The Mercury Dime was designed by sculptor Adolph A. Weinman and introduced in 1916 to replace the Barber dime. Weinman's winged cap was meant to symbolize liberty of thought, but the public quickly nicknamed the coin the "Mercury Dime" because the design resembled the winged helmet of the Roman messenger god. The name stuck even though the Mint's own title for the coin was the Winged Liberty Head dime.

The series ran for three decades and spanned the First World War, the Great Depression, and the Second World War. The 1943 date shown here falls in the wartime years; unlike the five-cent piece, which switched to a silver alloy during the war, the dime retained its long-standing 90% silver composition throughout. Production ended in 1945, after which the Roosevelt dime was introduced in 1946.

The obverse depicts Liberty in left-facing profile wearing a close-fitting winged cap, with "LIBERTY" arced around the upper rim, "IN GOD WE TRUST" in the lower left field, and the date at the lower right. The reverse shows a vertical fasces — rods bound with horizontal bands around an axe — crossed by an olive branch, framed by "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," and "ONE DIME."

The coin is 90% silver, about 17.9 mm across, near 2.5 grams, with a reeded edge and a bright silver-gray tone. When present, the mint mark appears on the reverse to the left of the fasces near the base: a "D" for Denver or an "S" for San Francisco. Coins struck at Philadelphia carry no mint mark. The example shown bears a "D," identifying it as a Denver issue.

Common-date Mercury Dimes in worn grades trade close to their silver bullion value, since each contains roughly 0.072 troy ounce of silver. Wartime dates such as 1943 were produced in large numbers and are among the more common issues, so circulated examples are affordable and priced mainly on metal content plus a modest collector premium.

Value rises sharply with high grade, original luster, and — especially — a "Full Bands" strike, meaning the two horizontal bands at the center of the fasces are fully separated and sharp. Key dates and varieties, above all the low-mintage 1916-D and the 1942/1 and 1942/1-D overdates, command strong premiums regardless of the common-date market. Because condition and strike drive value so heavily, a certified example from a reputable grading service is the most reliable guide to worth.