Mercury Dime Values, Stats, and History
The Mercury Dime is a U.S. coin that has a face value of a 10th of a dollar. The Mercury Dime was produced from 1916 to 1945. You may have also heard this dime referred to as a "Winged Liberty Dime". The Mercury Dime was designed by Mr. Adolph Weinman. This dime has a silver content of 90% and a copper content of 10%. This design of this dime ranks high because many people thought the coin was very beautiful. Even so, in 1945, the coin was replaced with Mr. Franklin Roosevelt due to his recent death.
The obverse side of the coin has a picture of "Lady Liberty" with a winged helmet. "LIBERTY" is centered at the top rim of the coin. "IN GOD WE TRUST" is etched on the bottom left of the coin and the date is marked on the bottom right of the dime as seen above. The reverse side of the coin has "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" centered at the top and "ONE DIME" is centered on the bottom rim of the coin. Dead center of the coin is a fasces, which stands for a bundle of wood/sticks. An axe and an olive branch is seen on the fasces. These two symbols are relevant to the coin and have an important meaning. The olive branch is a symbol for peace and the axe is a symbol of strength and unity.
With the current price of silver, the dime has a base value of $2.00. In 1916, production of the new mercury dime didn't start til later in the year. Due to this fact, there were only 284,000 dimes produced with this date. The 1916-D Mercury Dime has the most value of the entire series. It is the key date for the series, among the 1921, 1921-D, and the 1942/41 Mercury Dime. The 1942/41 Mercury Dime is widely known as an error coin. The coin is worth around $150 in worn condition. For a coin that is nearly uncirculated, the value can reach nearly $1,600. This is also true for the "D" mint mark also. You will see a "2" on top of the "1" in the date. So check your 1942 and 1942-D Mercury Dimes very closely.
As for the 1916-D Mercury Dime, the value begins at $600 dollars for a worn coin. For those coins in better shape, the value can reach the thousands. I have seen a few great coins go for nearly $10,000. The 1921 and the 1921-D are very similar in values. The 1921-D would have a slightly higher value then the 1921. The value for these coins begin around $50 for a worn one and up to $100-$200 for higher grade coins. The "D" mint mark means that the coin was made at the Denver Mint. The coins without a mint mark are made at the Philadelphia Mint.
The value of your coin depends mainly on two things, rarity and condition. The better shape your coin is in, the more money it is worth. It is always important to check your worn coins because even some of them can be very valuable. As always, I am welcome to any questions you may have about your Mercury Dimes or any other American coin. Please feel free to come back and check our articles as we continue to add more coins and currency.
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