Greysheet Catalog Details (GSID: 4524)
The 1916-D Mercury dime is rare in all grades and is particularly so with Full Bands details. The strike on many of the early branch-mint Mercury dimes is hit or miss, and the extremely low mintage of this Denver-minted specimen makes finding well-struck specimens especially challenging. Only a few hundred 1916-D Mercury dimes are known with Full Bands details, and most of these grade in the MS60-MS64 range, with perhaps a few dozen or so known survivors in MS65 or better grades. The 1916-D Mercury dime is for all intents and purposes a six-figure coin in a grade of MS67FB.

The rarity of this regular-issue key date coin, perhaps one of the most important of the 20th century alongside the 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent and 1916 Standing Liberty quarter, makes it highly popular with collectors. Even in the lowest of uncirculated grades, virtually no 1916-D Mercury dime with Full Bands designation is anything less than a five-figure coin.

As with all rare coins, buyers must be extra cautious when buying a 1916-D FB Mercury dimes. Altered dates and cast counterfeits are not the only worries. When it comes to Full Bands Mercury dimes, the problems often become not the coin itself but the FB detail. Some unscrupulous individuals have taken it upon themselves to carve turn mushy horizontal lines on the fasces into full bands with the use of a sharp precision cutting tool such as a pen knife.
Obverse: Winged Liberty, or Mercury (the Roman god of commerce), is depicted facing left with LIBERTY spelled around the periphery. IN GOD WE TRUST appears left of the neck and the date is positioned just below the bust around 5 o'clock. The designer's initials "AW" appear to the right of the neck.
Reverse: A large torch is centered vertically adorned with an axe head and olive branches. UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN * ONE DIME * is spelled out around the periphery. Mint mark, if any, appears near the bottom rim left of the torch.

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