Mercury Dime Values

With the recent influxes of silver prices, more and more attention is being directed to the Mercury, or more properly termed “Winged Liberty Head” Dime. The reason being is that metal investors are attracted to the 90% silver composition of this dime. Beyond their value in Silver, the Mercury dime can also offer great value to coin collectors as well! Originally minted from 1916 to 1946, the Mercury Dime preceded the Roosevelt Dime and proceeded the Barber Dime. Since these dimes are relatively young, they can easily be found in old coin collections and online. Covered in this article are the history, metal composition and key values for the Mercury Dime Collection.

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• As a part of Roosevelt’s plan to modernize the designs of American coinage, the Mercury Dime was released for circulation in 1916. Adolph A. Weinman, who also created the Walking Liberty Half Dollar, made the designs for the Dime. His initials AW can be found to the right of Liberty’s Neck.
• The obverse of the coin features a portrait of Lady Liberty with crowning wings. Contrary to its common name, the Mercury Dime does not actually depict a portrait of Mercury and technically should be called the Winged Liberty Head Dime. Old habits die hard though, as this dime is almost always referred to as the Mercury Dime.
• The reverse of the coin features a fasces and an olive branch. The depiction of the fasces and olive branch showed the United States desire for peace, but also its preparedness for war.
• The mintage of the Mercury Dime collection remained rather error-free with only two recognized mint errors in 1942. There were varieties showing with large or small dates in the years of 1928S, 1934D and 1941S, but these are not classified as errors.

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• Weight – 2.5 Grams
• Metal Composition – 90% Silver, 10% Copper
• Melt Value – $3.15

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Unlike the Roosevelt Dime Collection that offers relatively little value to collectors, the Mercury Dime Collection brings a lot more to the table. Besides the silver value of over $2 per coin, there are many Mercury dimes that have a high numismatic value. Below is a list of valuable key and semi key dates from the Mercury Dime mintage:

Key Date Mercury Dimes:

1916D - Valued at $900-25,000+

1921 – Valued at $50-2,000+

1921D – Valued at $75-3.000+

Semi Key Date Mercury Dimes:

1917D – Valued at $10-1,000+

1919D – Valued at $15-1,750+

1919S – Valued at $10-1,000+

1925D – Valued at $30-2,500

1927D – Valued at $10-1,100+

1928D – Valued at $10-750

1931D – Valued at $15-300

Mercury Dime Error Coins:

1942 – 2 Over 1 Error. Valued at $500-10,000+

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I guess the saying, "big things come in small packages" is the case for the Mercury Dime. Even though this coin is smaller than a penny, it can be worth upwards of thousands of dollars depending on the year. Wouldn't you like to stumble across an old coin jar and find that you've been sitting on big value! I know I would. Well, thanks for reading my article on Mercury Dime Values. Please click through my other coin articles below.