Mercury Dimes

Silver Coin Bags

Because of their vintage and beauty, bags of Mercury Head dimes, often shortened to Mercury dimes and also called Winged Liberty Head dimes, are popular with silver coin buyers. Minted 1916-1945, Mercury Head dimes were companions to the equally-popular Walking Liberty half-dollars, which were minted 1916-1947. In 1946, to honor four-term president Franklin Roosevelt, Congress passed legislation that replaced Mercury Head dimes with Roosevelt dimes.

Mercury Head Dimes Bags Sell at Premiums

Bags of Mercury dimes sell at premiums to pre-1965 Roosevelt dimes, despite a bag of Mercury dimes and a bag of pre-'65 Roosevelt dimes each yielding right at 715 ounces of pure silver if smelted. Although a bag of circulated (junk) dimes may contain a few Mercury Head dimes, buyers should not count on getting many Mercury Head dimes when buying bags of junk dimes. In fact, a bag of junk dimes may contain all Roosevelt dimes. Bags of Mercury dimes carry premiums of $300 to $500 over bags of Roosevelt dimes.

Mercury dimes: Added Potential Price Appreciation

Investors buying silver and coins for survival purposes should buy Bags of junk U.S. 90% silver coins. Yet, investors wanting added potential price appreciation should consider the venerable Mercury Head dimes, which circulated as money during some of the United States' most tumultuous times: World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and World War II. During the Great Depression, when a man down on his luck asked, "Brother, can you spare a dime?" he was hoping for a Mercury Head dime.

Additionally, another big difference between Bags of Mercury Head dimes and Bags of Roosevelt dimes is that Mercury dimes were made of only one alloy, 90% silver and 10% copper. Roosevelt dimes, however, were minted of two alloys, 90% silver and 10% copper between 1946 and 1964. Roosevelt dimes dated 1965 and later contain no silver, being minted of a copper-nickel alloy. Therefore, the Mercury Head design makes them readily recognizable as 90% silver coins, whereas with Roosevelt dimes the dates have to be inspected.

Bags of Silver Coins Always Available;
Mercury Dimes Bags Usually Available

CMIGS always has bags of junk silver coins ready for shipment, and we usually have bags of Mercury Head dimes. Investors looking to buy are invited to call CMIGS at 1-800-528-1380. We take calls 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MST, Mondays through Fridays. CMIGS is headquartered in the Phoenix, Arizona financial district in downtown Phoenix. We are Arizona's oldest silver bullion dealer.

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