264,000 struck — the lowest mintage of any 20th-century U.S. circulation dime. The 1916-D is the undisputed key to the Mercury (Winged Liberty) dime series.
History
- Designed by Adolph A. Weinman: Liberty in a winged Phrygian cap (the "Mercury" look) on the obverse; fasces and olive branch on the reverse.
- The 1916 issue replaced Charles Barber’s dime design, in use since 1892 — and 1916 saw both Barber and Mercury dimes struck at Philadelphia.
- Why the mintage is so low: Philadelphia and San Francisco had already struck 22+ million and 10+ million Mercury dimes respectively, so on November 24, 1916, Mint Director von Engelken ordered the Denver Mint to stop striking dimes and produce only quarters.
Key dates & varieties
- Mintage: 264,000 — the key to the series.
- Full Bands examples (fully struck horizontal bands on the fasces) carry the steepest premiums: an MS-66 Full Bands CAC example realized $94,000 at Heritage’s PNG Invitational (2015); an MS-67 Full Bands brought $152,750 at Heritage (2013).
Specifications
- Weight: 2.5 g; diameter 17.9 mm.
- Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper — about 0.0723 oz of pure silver.
Collector notes
- Heavily counterfeited, including added-D examples — buy certified, and be skeptical of raw high-grade pieces.