Mercury Dime Tribute – 1/4 Troy Ounce – 20mm

A small silver round with a rich American story.

The Mercury Dime Tribute carries the familiar Winged Liberty design into a quarter-ounce silver round. At 20mm in diameter and 2.56mm thick, this Intaglio Mint tribute pairs a compact format with 1/4 troy ounce of .999 fine silver. Its portrait, historic inscriptions, and symbolic reverse recall an era when some of America’s most memorable sculpture traveled from hand to hand as everyday money.

The Story Behind the Mercury Dime

Adolph A. Weinman designed the Winged Liberty dime, which circulated from 1916 through 1945. Despite the popular nickname, its subject is Liberty rather than the Roman god Mercury. The wings on her cap symbolize freedom of thought; their resemblance to Mercury’s familiar attributes helped give the coin its enduring name.

The dime arrived in the same year as the Standing Liberty quarter and Walking Liberty half dollar. Weinman also created the half dollar’s design, making his work part of two of the three new silver coin designs introduced in 1916. This tribute revisits that artistic moment in a modern fractional silver format.

Symbols of Strength and Peace

On the reverse, a fasces—a bundle of rods surrounding an axe—stands beside an olive branch. The pairing brings together strength and readiness with the desire for peace. The vertical bundle and curved branch give the reverse its distinctive arrangement, surrounded by the inscriptions associated with the original dime.

The 1916 date and “D” mint-mark detail echo the historic coin, while the microprinted silver hallmark identifies this round’s own weight and purity. The retained “ONE DIME” inscription is part of the tribute artwork: this is a modern silver round, not an original circulating Mercury dime.

Design Details

• Obverse: Winged Liberty’s portrait surrounded by “LIBERTY,” with “IN GOD WE TRUST” and the 1916 date.
• Reverse: Fasces and olive branch with “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “ONE DIME,” “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” and a “D” detail. “1/4 Troy Ounce .999 AG” is microprinted along the axe blade.

Specifications

• Weight: 1/4 troy ounce
• Metal: .999 fine silver
• Diameter: 20mm
• Thickness: 2.56mm
• Edge: Reeded
• Finish: Brilliant Uncirculated

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