As is common among first-year coins from the early part of the 20 th century, 1916 Mercury dimes spawned at least one significant rarity: the 1916-D. Whether you prefer calling this coin a Winged Liberty Head dime or a Mercury dime, what’s indisputable is that the first year of the series began with a bang – at least in terms of rare coins. While the official name of Weinman’s dime design is “Winged Liberty Head,” it soon became more widely known as the “Mercury” dime because of the winged-capped figure’s close likeness to the Roman god of the same name. Weinman, a sculptor who had another numismatic claim to fame beginning that year: the Walking Liberty half dollar.
The new Winged Liberty Head design introduced on the dime in 1916 was created by Adolph A. In 1916, The United States Mint embarked on a new Liberty design for the dime, a denomination that had depicted an image of Lady Liberty since 1796.
