Why Do They Call it the Mercury Dime?

Why is the United States dime struck from 1916 through 1945 called the “Mercury” dime? Does it contain mercury?

The Mercury Dime is easily among the most widely collected United States dimes and was struck during a period of numismatic history known as the “The Renaissance of American Coinage." The Mercury dime, designed by Adolph A. Weinman, is among these coins whose artistic merits are widely heralded by collectors even to this day. However, the coin we now tend to dub the “Mercury Dime” wasn’t always known by this name — one that technically isn’t its official moniker.

The Mercury Dime bears a portrait of Miss Liberty wearing a winged cap – a symbol of speed and dexterity dating back to the ancient Greek god Hermes and Roman god Mercury. Weinman modeled his winged cap on Miss Liberty in a style echoing the classics but perhaps with a modern twist to the headpiece that numismatic author Walter Breen suggested “nearly resembles 1920s cloche hats worn by flappers.” Regardless of Weinman’s artistic inspiration for the winged cap, he did not intend for the public to interpret his patriotic figure as anything other than a stylized take on the very American Miss Liberty.

Many in numismatic circles incorrectly and early on assumed Weinman’s dime depicts Mercury, with this misnomer perpetuated throughout the past generations and now engrained in the collectors’ collective conscious. Despite a multitude of notable numismatic scholars explaining the significance of the more accurate and official “Winged Liberty Head” nomenclature, the Mercury Dime lives on in name and in popularity.

Perhaps the best news for concerned collectors is that they need not call their local poison control center after handling one of these classic dimes. They are not made from the silvery-white toxic metal mercury, but rather from a 90% silver, 10% copper alloy.

Source

Breen, Walter. Walter Breen’s Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins. Doubleday, 1988.