1916 Dime Pattern - J-1981

Coin Details

Description

A business strike pattern for the 1916 Mercury dime, one of the most beloved designs in American coinage history. Adolph Alexander Weinman's Winged Liberty Head design — popularly called the "Mercury dime" because Liberty's winged cap resembled the winged petasos worn by the Roman messenger god Mercury — was selected through a competitive design process organized by the Commission of Fine Arts. The obverse features a left-facing portrait of Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap, symbolizing freedom of thought, with LIBERTY inscribed along the upper border and IN GOD WE TRUST to the left. The reverse displays a fasces — a bundle of rods bound around an axe, the ancient Roman symbol of authority and civic unity — entwined with an olive branch representing peace. This business strike format, as opposed to the proof finish used on most pattern evaluations, allowed Mint officials to assess how Weinman's design would appear under normal production conditions, with the satin-like surfaces and slightly softer detail that characterize coins struck at commercial speeds and pressures. The Mercury dime would enter circulation in October 1916 and remain in production until 1945, becoming one of the defining designs of early twentieth-century American coinage.

Rarity Notes

R-7 to R-8 (Extremely Rare). Business strike dime patterns from the 1916 redesign are rarer than their proof counterparts.

Cross References

Judd J-1981, Pollock P-2173