Mixed date circulated USA mercury dime.

Weight: 2.50 grams
Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper
Edge: Reeded
Weight: .07234 ounce pure silver

The "Mercury" dime is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful regular issue coins ever minted in the U.S. Mercury dimes were minted from 1916 till 1945 at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints. Coins minted at the Philadelphia Mint do not bear a mint mark. Coins minted at the other two mints bear the "D" and "S" mint marks on the reverse of the coin near the bottom.

Despite the name given to this coin, the coin does not in fact depict Mercury, the legendary messenger of the gods in Roman mythology. The portrait on the face side of the coin is actually that of Liberty wearing a winged cap symbolizing freedom of thought. However, because of the resemblance of this portrait to Mercury, the coin has always been popularly referred to as a Mercury dime.

The reverse side of the coin depicts a fasces and an olive branch. A fasces is an axe surrounded by a bundle of rods representing the ancient Roman symbol of power.

This coin's aesthetically pleasing design has made it very popular with coin collectors. Most of the earlier date Mercury dimes in circulated condition, except for a few key dates and varieties, are common and readily available to collectors for an inexpensive price, as are both circulated and uncirculated dimes minted in the 1940's.

The rarest Mercury dime is the 1916-D. Other rare dates include the 1921 and 1921-D dimes.

There are also a number of rare or interesting varieties of Mercury dimes, including the following:

1. 1942 "2 over 1" Die Variety

In 1942, a few dies used in the prior year to strike 1941 dimes were re-punched with the date 1942. However, the number "1" in the date is still visible on coins struck from these dies and the number "4" in the date is doubled. This so-called 1942 "2 over 1" die dime variety is in great demand by collectors and has a relatively high numismatic value.

2. 1945-S Dime Variety

There are two sizes of "S" mint marks on the 1945-S Mercury dimes. There is a normal size mint mark and a smaller size mint mark that collectors refer to as a "micro S". The smaller mint mark is less common and has a greater numismatic value than the normal size mint mark.

Production of Mercury dimes ceased in 1946 when, following the death of Franklin Roosevelt, a new dime design with a portrait of the former President was minted.