MELT VALUES / SILVER
Silver Dime — Mercury & Roosevelt (–1964, 90% Silver)
Melt value now SNAPSHOT
$4.99
49.9× face value
Designer
Adolph A. Weinman (Mercury, 1916); John R. Sinnock (Roosevelt, 1946)
Years struck
Barber to 1916; Mercury 1916–1945; Roosevelt 1946–1964 in silver
Mints
Philadelphia, Denver (D), San Francisco (S)
Billions struck; the workhorse of junk-silver bags at 0.0723 ozt each.
THE STORY
Weinman's Winged Liberty — universally misread as the god Mercury — is widely considered one of the most beautiful US coin designs. The Roosevelt dime followed within a year of FDR's death, honoring his connection to the March of Dimes. Both vanished from circulation within three years of the 1965 clad switch as the public hoarded silver; today they are the standard unit of American junk silver, trading in $1,000-face bags that contain 715 ounces of the metal.
Weinman's model for Liberty was Elsie Stevens — landlady tenant of the poet Wallace Stevens.
KEY DATES WORTH REAL MONEY
Check these before treating any coin as melt.
| 1916-D Mercury | 264,000 minted — a four-figure coin even in well-worn grades |
| 1942/1 Mercury | Overdate in both P and D — strong five-figure coins in high grade |
| 1949-S Roosevelt | The Roosevelt semi-key, modest premium |
Think you have one? Check recent auction records before selling — and read our grading basics first.
SPECIFICATIONS
Grading: where wear shows first
On Mercuries, wear hits the wing feathers and the fasces bands - Full Bands examples are the grade-makers. On silver Roosevelts, the torch lines.
Never clean a coin. Ever. Cleaning permanently destroys collector value — dark original toning is worth more than shiny damage.
Counterfeit check
The 1916-D Mercury is among the most-faked US coins: added 'D' mint marks on Philadelphia coins. Any raw 1916-D should be presumed altered until certified.
Gear that settles it: an electromagnetic verifier, a calibrated scale and calipers — counterfeit basics.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ACTUALLY ASK
What dimes are silver?
Every US dime dated 1964 or earlier is 90% silver - about $5.00 of metal at $69 spot. Check dates on every dime in an inheritance jar.
What is a 'junk silver' dime worth?
Common dates trade at melt plus a small premium - dealers quote junk silver at a multiple of face value (roughly 50x face at $69 silver).
Coin image: Wikimedia Commons — Public domain — BrandonBigheart for the photograph; Adolph Weinman for the coin design..
