Description

This U.S. ten cent piece features Liberty wearing a winged cap. It has earned the nickname Mercury dime because of Liberty's resemblance to Mercury the mythological messenger of the Roman gods. The obverse side also displays the legend "Liberty" along the rim, the motto "In God We Trust" and the date of issue. The letter "W" over a smaller letter "A" is to the right of Liberty's bust and stands for the designer's initials. The reverse design is a fasces and olive branch. A fasces is an axe enclosed in a bundle of rods and is the ancient Roman symbol of power. The reverse design also includes "United States of America", the stated value of "One Dime" and the motto "E Pluribus Unum".

General Information

Mercury dimes were minted from 1916 till 1945. This dime is composed of 90% silver and 10% copper. It's size is almost 18 mm in diameter. The coin was designed by Adolph A. Weinman and produced at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints. Coins minted at the Philadelphia Mint do not bear a mint mark while the "D" and "S" mint marks representing the other two Mints are found on the reverse at the bottom of the design near the rim to the left of the fasces.

Author's Notes & Comments

This design is truly a favorite among dime collectors. Most early date Mercury dimes in circulated grades, except for the key dates and a couple of varieties, are common and easy to obtain. Uncirculated dimes minted in the 1940's are also rather inexpensive except for fully struck coins. The bands across the fasces are often found weakly struck and so the term used by collectors for a well struck Mercury dime is "full split bands".

The key date to the Mercury dime series is the 1916-D. Semi-key dates are the 1921 and 1921-D. The most common date coins, and worth only slightly more than the price of their silver content in circulated grades, are those produced in the 1940's.

Varieties

In 1942, a pair of 1941 dies left over from the previous year were repunched with the date of 1942. The number "1" in the date is still visible on coins struck from these two obverse dies. The number "4" in the date is also doubled. One die was used in Philadelphia and the other at the Denver Mint (bearing a "D" mint mark). The 1942 "2 over 1" die varieties are highly sought after by collectors and command a premium price.

1942 "2 over 1" Philadelphia Mint Coin

Two sizes of "S" mint marks are featured on 1945-S dimes. There is a normal size mint mark and also what collectors call a "micro S". The smaller mint mark brings a slightly higher price than the normal size mint mark but is not a real rarity. Mint marks on all Mercury dimes seem to be a little different either in size or in the placement on the coin.

1945-S Normal Mint Mark

1945 Micro "S" Mint Mark