Mercury Dimes--Beautiful In Every Grade.

The Mercury Dime is one of the most collectable coins ever produced by the United States. The series really does appeal to a wide variety of collectors. There is the Full Band designation which appeals to the strike conscious collector in the mint state grades. There are affordable Mercs, expensive Mercs, key date Mercs, overdates, and even famous counterfeits. Personally, I enjoy the fantastically toned dimes that seem to appear with with every major auction. Coins like this 1939-D PCGS MS69 FB that sold a few years ago really peak my interest.



1939-D Mercury Dime PCGS MS69 FB

Every date/mm can be found in grades ranging from PO1 to MS67. And after going through some of my Mercury Dime photos, I noticed that the design really looks spectacular no matter what the grade of the coin. Let me show you what I mean. Take a look at the photos below and judge for yourself.

Good​

VG/F​

XF/AU​

BU​

GEM BU​

Typically, the higher the grade, the more attractive the coin. But with this design, I can easily understand people who might like the circulated grades even more than the mint state examples. So which grade of Mercury Dime do you like the most. Feel free to vote in the attached poll and share your comments and photos of this great design.

 

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THE 39-D is stunning. Kinda hard to believe that a coin toned like that could actually get a 69.

 

I think you will find that almost all of the MS69 Mercury Dimes are fantastically toned.

 

Funny, but none of my MS69 Mercury dimes toned like that. Maybe that is because I have none. You don't say it. Is that your dime?

 

Judging by the Pics, she ages very well, keeps her beauty! GREAT Design! The House of Reps sent the Senate a bill proposing a 1 oz. palladium bullion coin with the Winged Liberty/Mercury design on the obverse.
Steve

 

Unfortunately, NO, I was outbid.

 

Good for the Senate!

I like the toning on the XF/AU obverse.

 

LeHigh, I still like that 36 FB that you got from Jesh the best I think. It's just so pretty and clean.
Where as that MS69 doesn't do it for me as the toning looks dirty to me, the colors are nice but just dirty.

But I do love a good Merc...worn, dirty or clean! Thanks for posting this.

 

I agree with this. Mercs, more than any other coin, wear beautifully over time. The VG's have wonderful aesthetics and charm.

 

When I first started collecting, I settled on Mercury Dimes for several reasons. My username has been Mercury since 1985, first on a DEC VAX 11/70, and now mercury49at torchlake.com. Mercury was the messenger of the gods and my first career was in transportation. Mercury was also the patron of merchants and thieves -- it can be so hard to tell them apart sometimes.

For a beginning collector, the series was achievable. Even the one key, the 1916-D is easy to find in any grade you want: all you need is the money. The middle of the series is harder: the lower mintages, the Ds and Ss are not that often set aside and not all dealers have desirable examples on hand.

The Complete Guide to Mercury Dimes written by David Lange provided authoritative nformation about the series. For me, this was critical.

I wrote this piece first for Lloyd Lim's Numismatica/Telesphere and then re-wrote it for Coin Newbies. I learned to grade the coin rapidly from the reverse. The bands, diagonals and sticks -- I call them "rods" but the graders all say "sticks" -- make it easy. I found the mass of swirly curls hard to parse. When I said that online (rec.collecting.coins) another Michigan collector replied that it is pretty easy once you know how. Together we wrote an article about grading Mercury Dimes for Winning Ways magazine of Women in Numismatics.

In 2001, working on a project in Dallas, I had a couple of opportunities to visit Heritage. Though I missed the sale itself, they had a nice poster of the finest set of Mercury Dimes ever assembled. It was splendid.

My own Whitman was built pretty much from bags of circs. A local dealer -- Liberty in Lansing, Michigan -- let me come in a few times and work through their bulk. Eventually, I bought the ones I could not find, or could not find in grade. The 21-D and 21-S, of course, but it was interesting to see the holes left by random chance for coins whose mintages spoke otherwise. Similarly, nominal rarities did show up, as well, which is the fun in searching, of course.

All in all, the series has a lot to commend it.

I never did get the 16-D, though. With all the others in Fine or above, a Good 16-D was not enough.

Also, I bought several 16-Ps in Unc. If you know the series and get used to looking at it, you realize that the fresher hubs created sharper dies from which detailed coins were struck. Mercury Dimes of World War II can have Mint bloom and Mint luster and Full Split Bands and all that, but compared to a 16, once you know, they look mushy.
If you have to have "just one" get a Mint State 16-P: it is affordable and satisfying.

 

I liked the posting but i think you messed up as there are no S mint 21's and I assume you meant the plain 21 and 21D.

 

I had to vote XF/Au on this one. IMO They have an appealing amount of wear and are not blast white like in higher grades.

 

Got a near XF the other day outta a roll. I love Mercs, especially in that grade... blast white mercury dimes throw me off a bit... they're too... I don't know.

 

Whats not to like about the blast white ones?

 

I agree, Mercury dimes are one of the greatest US coin series to collect. I'd put them up there with Buffalo Nickels as one of the most popular US coin series ever. And one that actually circulated in large numbers. I love the aesthetic appeal of the fasces on the reverse.
Again this taps into my love of history. When the fasces was put on the coin in 1916, it was before the negative connotation associated with the fasces tying it to the European fascist regimes of the mid 20th century occurred in the public consciousness.
I wonder if they would have put a fasces on a US coin post WWII? Methinks probably not.

 

I like a good Gem Bu Merc but there is something about an XF-AU
that just kind of talks to me. Mercury dimes are bar none one
of the most beautifully designed coins that have ever been produced.
And one of my personal favorites.

I would have liked to see that design on a Dollar coin
of the era. Now that would have been something very cool.:thumb:
I like Morgan's but compared to the Mercury design Morgan's
are rather bland.

Terry

 

I'm in the 67+ boat, because I want the best of both world. A stunning gem and a toner.

Paul, I agree that circulated Mercury Dimes can really be something. Mercury Dimes, when toned, can also be some of the most beautiful coins in Numismatics. I've owned several, but never toned to the extent of what is in the marketplace.

 

My eyes are too bad to appreciate dimes.

 

As someone who has mostly circulated and raw BU Mercury Dimes, I would love to own a certified premium gem full band Mercury Dime. I didn't even know that MS69 Mercury Dimes existed. I guess we all want what we don't have.

 

They are beautiful! I actually like Lehigh's '43 the best