Mercury Dime

The Mercury Dime, or Winged Liberty Head dime, is considered by many to be the most beautiful US dime produced.

Specifications

 * Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
 * Obverse Design: Miss Liberty wearing a phrygian cap
 * Reverse Design: Battle ax and olive branch
 * Edge: Reeded
 * Weight: 2.50 grams
 * Diameter: 17.9 millimeters
 * Composition: Silver (90%), Copper (10%)
 * Dates Minted: 1916 - 1945

Background
The technically-correct crowd will tell you that the Mercury dime should actually be called the Winged Liberty dime. That’s actually true, because that is NOT the ancient god, Mercury on the face of this dime, rather, it IS Miss Liberty wearing a cap with wings to symbolize freedom of thought. But let’s face it— the head on the Mercury dime matches almost exactly, the symbol of the FTD Florists, the speedy ancient god, Mercury. So this particular dime will likely ALWAYS be referred to as the “Mercury dime,” simply because popular wisdom trumps technically-correct, every time. Which is also why the one-cent coin will always be popularly referred to as a “penny," rather than the technically-correct, “cent.”

But back to the coin itself. The Mercury dime appeared on the U.S coin landscape in 1916. The new Mercury dime was the second type of dime to bear a 1916-date, as the old Barber dime series finished up that same year. As it was, the year 1916 was somewhat of a renaissance year for U.S. coinage, for in that year, three new U.S. coin designs appeared:  the Mercury dime, the Standing Liberty quarter, and the Walking Liberty half dollar. All three are considered beautiful classics today. Imagine getting a mint-set from the year 1916, where these three coin designs AND the classic Buffalo nickel design would be included!

In fact, the year 1916 is a milestone in U.S. coinage for another reason. Up until 1916, the dime always had the same obverse design as the quarter and the half dollar. This all changed with the introduction of the Mercury dime, Standing Liberty quarter and Walking Liberty half dollar -—all three with completely different obverse designs.

The Mercury dime design is simpler than the more striking-looking Standing Liberty quarter or the REALLY attractive Walking Liberty half dollar. A major reason for this, obviously, is the much smaller surface of the dime—you simply can’t fit as much onto the face of it! Even so, the designer of the Mercury dime, Adolph A. Weinman, produced a design of simple classic beauty: a winged liberty head that had the look of an ancient classic Greek coin, and a reverse featuring a bundle of sticks flanked by a battle ax and entwined with an olive branch. The battle-ax symbolized “preparedness,” the olive branch symbolizing “peace”,:and the entire bundle together symbolizing unity. So you can see from the obverse and reverse design, this tiny coin is heavy with symbolism!

History
It’s somewhat of a shame that this tiny classic coin beauty, whose design expresses hope for peace, unity and liberty, had its circulation years flanked by two horrific World Wars. The Mercury dime entered circulation right in the middle of World War I, and ended the same year as World War II ended. Also, unfortunately, the Mercury dime is the dime of the “Brother, can you spare a dime” years: the Great Depression of 1929-1936. But the Mercury dime did enjoy one Golden Age span in the U.S., that being the prosperous Roaring Twenties, at least until 1929.

The Mercury dime would be the last dime type to be struck in 90% silver during its entire run. So every collector can rest assured that, unlike the Roosevelt dime series, every Mercury dime is a silver dime. Also, the Mercury dime features three of the most popular “rarities” in 20th century U.S. coinage: the 1916-D dime (retails $2,500 in Fine), and the 1942 overdates (the 1942, 2 over 1 and the 1942-d 2 over 1).

Grading
When grading Mercury dimes, the reverse design holds the key. The Mercury head was fairly bold and high relief, so is almost never found worn flat. The more defined the braids and hair, however, the better the grade. The sticks and bands on the reverse bundle, however, seem to be the first parts to show wear. If the vertical sticks and diagonal bands on the reverse are mostly visible and defined, then you have a higher-grade coin—at least Very Fine. For an Extremely Fine, the diagonal bands will be almost completely defined, and on the obverse, the braids and hair before the ear, are visible.

The Mercury dime was struck at the Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver mints. The Philadelphia mint dimes do not have a mintmark. The San Francisco and Denver mints, however, will have their mintmark (S or D) on the reverse, at the base of the olive branch. Most dates and mintmarks are easily affordable, even into the mint-state grades. The Mercury dimes up to the early 1920’s are the most popular, not only because they are generally a bit scarcer than the ones from the late twenties through 1945, but simply because they are “early” Mercury dimes, had more time to circulate, and are harder to find in higher grades.

Mints

 * Philadelphia Mint (no mintmark)
 * San Francisco Mint (S mintmark)
 * Denver Mint (D mintmark)