A common Mercury dime is worth its silver content, which comes to roughly $2 to $4 per coin at recent silver prices, plus a small premium in better condition. They were struck from 1916 to 1945, mostly in large numbers, and the late dates from the 1940s are especially common. A handful of key dates are worth far more: the 1916-D sells for around $900 or more even when heavily worn, and the 1921, 1921-D and 1942/1 overdate are each worth from about $60 to several hundred dollars in low grades.
Unlike Buffalo nickels, Mercury dimes always have a floor. Each one is 90 percent silver, so even a worn, bent or holed coin is worth its metal. That makes a roll of them easy to price: count the coins, check the silver price, and then look for the few dates that change the math.
What decides value above melt, in order, is the date, the mint mark on the reverse, and condition. Full Bands on the reverse add a premium for uncirculated coins, sometimes a very large one.
The silver floor, with the math
The coin is officially the Winged Liberty Head dime. People called it the Mercury dime because Liberty's winged cap looked like the Roman god's helmet. It weighs 2.5 grams and is 90 percent silver, which works out to 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver.
Melt value is 0.0723 times the spot silver price:
- At $30 silver, melt is about $2.17
- At $40 silver, melt is about $2.89
- At $50 silver, melt is about $3.62
Ten Mercury dimes hold about 0.72 ounces of silver, and a full roll of 50 holds about 3.6 ounces. Dealers usually buy common circulated dimes at or slightly below melt and sell them a little above it. Check the day's spot price before selling. The same 0.0723 figure applies to Roosevelt dimes from 1946 to 1964.
Where the mint mark is
The mint mark is on the reverse, at the bottom left, just to the left of the base of the fasces, the bundle of rods with an axe blade:
- No letter: Philadelphia
- D: Denver
- S: San Francisco
On worn coins the letter can be faint. A 5x to 10x loupe and light from the side make it readable. On the 1916-D the mint mark decides everything, because a 1916 from Philadelphia is a common coin worth about $5 to $10 worn.
Common dates
Most Mercury dimes in a jar are from the late 1930s and 1940s. The years 1934 through 1945 were struck in the tens of millions each and are priced close to silver in circulated grades. Typical values:
- Circulated 1934-1945: melt to melt plus $1
- Circulated 1916-1933 common dates: melt plus $1 to $5
- Uncirculated 1940s: roughly $8 to $20
- Gem uncirculated with Full Bands, common 1940s dates: $30 to $100
Key dates
The 1916-D
The rarest regular-issue Mercury dime. Denver struck only 264,000 because it was busy making quarters. A genuine 1916-D brings roughly $900 to $1,500 in Good and several thousand in Fine. It is also heavily faked, usually by attaching a D taken from another coin to a common Philadelphia 1916. Watch for a mint mark that sits at an odd angle, a seam around the letter, or a D that looks too fresh compared with the rest of the coin. Any 1916-D should go to PCGS or NGC before it is sold.
The 1921 and 1921-D
Low mintages after a postwar slowdown. Both are worth roughly $60 to $120 in Good and several hundred dollars in Fine. The date on worn 1921 coins can be hard to read; the last two digits should be clear, not guessed.
The 1942/1 overdate
A Philadelphia die was hubbed with both a 1941 and a 1942 hub, leaving a clear 1 inside the 2 of the date. It is visible without magnification on most examples. Worn coins bring roughly $400 to $700, and uncirculated ones run into the thousands. There is also a scarcer Denver version, the 1942/1-D. A sharp macro of the date settles both.
Semi-key dates
- 1919-D, 1919-S, 1925-D, 1926-S and 1927-D: roughly $5 to $15 worn, much more uncirculated
- 1931-D and 1931-S: roughly $8 to $15 worn
- 1918-S and 1920-D: modest premiums in higher grades
Full Bands
The fasces on the reverse is tied with three sets of horizontal bands. On a fully struck coin, the central bands are completely split by a clear groove, with no break or merging. Graders call this Full Bands, written FB or FSB.
Full Bands matter only on uncirculated coins, and the premium depends heavily on the date. Common dates from the late 1930s and early 1940s often show them, so the premium is modest. Some dates were almost always weakly struck. The 1945 from Philadelphia is the famous example: a normal uncirculated 1945 is worth $10 to $20, while one with Full Bands in high grade sells for thousands. The 1916-D, 1921 and several 1920s branch mint dates also bring very large multiples with Full Bands.
To check, use a loupe and look at the center band pair. If the groove between them is continuous from side to side, the coin may qualify. A slight break or flat spot rules it out. An angled-light macro of the reverse is the photo that answers this.
Value table
These approximate ranges assume silver at roughly $30 to $50 per ounce and original, uncleaned coins.
| Coin | Good | Fine | Uncirculated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common date 1934-1945 | $2-4 | $2.50-5 | $8-20 |
| Common date 1916-1933 | $3-6 | $4-10 | $20-80 |
| 1916-D | $900-1,500 | $2,500-4,000 | $10,000+ |
| 1921 | $60-100 | $200-300 | $1,500+ |
| 1921-D | $80-120 | $250-350 | $1,800+ |
| 1926-S | $8-15 | $20-40 | $1,000+ |
| 1931-D | $8-15 | $15-25 | $100+ |
| 1942/1 overdate | $400-700 | $700-1,000 | $3,000+ |
| 1942/1-D overdate | $450-800 | $800-1,200 | $3,500+ |
| Holed or damaged | Melt | Melt | Melt |
Full Bands premiums are not shown here because they vary so widely by date. For any uncirculated key date, or any 1945 that looks fully struck, the grade decides the price, and that is a job for a grading service.
Cleaning and damage
Mercury dimes were often polished by previous owners or used in jewelry. Cleaned coins look bright and flat with fine parallel scratches, and they lose most of their collector premium. For a common date that does not matter much, since the silver is still there. For a key date, cleaning can cut the value in half.
Holes, bends and solder marks reduce a coin to melt value. Natural toning, including the rainbow toning that sometimes forms on coins stored in old albums, is fine and can add a premium.
Photos that settle it
- The reverse, straight on, showing the mint mark beside the fasces
- The date at high magnification, especially for 1916, 1921 and 1942
- An angled-light macro of the fasces bands for any uncirculated coin
- A full obverse to judge wear on the hair above Liberty's forehead
If the dimes came with other silver, the inherited coins guide covers quarters and halves, and the Kennedy half dollar guide explains the 1964 to 1970 halves.