Coin Value Finder » 1945 Mercury Dime Value: Are “D”, “S”, No Mint Mark Worth Money?

1945 Mercury Dime Value: Are “D”, “S”, No Mint Mark Worth Money?

The 1945 Mercury Dime is unique in that it was the last year this coin was minted. This series of dimes is considered among the most beautiful coins ever struck by the United States Mint.

It is a coin with certain peculiarities and that is becoming increasingly popular among new collectors. There are certain details that will make the price of this coin really profitable and they are a good prospect to collect as their value is sure to only multiply over time.

This article tells you everything you need to know about this fascinating coin and its secrets.

1945 Mercury Dime Details

1945 Mercury Dime Details

  • Category: Mercury Dimes (1916-1945)
  • Mint: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco
  • Mintage: 240,665,000
  • Obverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
  • Reverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
  • Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
  • Fineness: 0.9
  • Weight: 2.5g
  • ASW: 0.0723oz
  • Melt Value: $1.60 (2/11/2023)
  • Diameter: 17.8mm
  • Edge: Reed

The 1945 Mercury Dime was the last batch of dimes, before giving way to dimes featuring the face of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

This coin was minted from 1916 to 1945. It was 90% silver and 10% copper. It weighed 2.5 grams and had a diameter of 17.91 mm and 1.35 mm thickness.

This was a coin that caused a lot of controversy and conflict within the mint since the public quickly accepted it and had a very favorable opinion.

People said it had a beautiful and elegant design, but inside the mint, it was rumored that it was a design meant to please the demands and egos of artists and did not meet the practical criteria for minting.

There may be some truth in this since it is a coin that has certain minting problems on the reverse that currently revalue the coin and are only good news for collectors.

The artist’s initials were also said to be very large, which are struck on the obverse of the coin with the letters W and A superimposed. The designer of the coin was always in agreement with reducing the size of his initials but the head of the coin never took any action on it.

What they did do was make small changes to the coin and many people began to report that the coins did not work in all the vending machines.

The Mint wanted to release this coin as the Winged Liberty Head dime, but the public quickly adopted another nickname for the coin. It is since then that he is known as Mercury dime.

Observe side

The obverse of the 1945 Mercury Dime has Lady Liberty as the main image. She is adorned with a winged Phrygian cap. This hat was very common in Greek culture and later in Roman culture. It was a hat used by all those who had been freed from slavery, therefore it represents freedom of thought.

The coin has the word LIBERTY at the top edge and the phrase IN GOD WE TRUST at the bottom. The minting date is located below the cut of the neckline and in the lower right part there is an anagram with the letters A and W, which are the initials of the designer.

A lot of controversies were created around this coin since there were conflicting opinions regarding its design. Lady Liberty’s winged Phrygian cap confused most people, who believed that it was the representation of the god Mercury with his typical winged hat.

As much as they tried to rectify the true name of the coin, to this day it is known as the Mercury dime.

Reverse side

The main image on the reverse of the coin is a bunch of tied rods and the blade of an ax stands out at the top. This symbol has the name Fasces, and it was an Italian symbol that has its origin in the Etruscan civilization and was inherited from the Romans. It symbolizes the power and jurisdiction of a magistrate.

Ironically it is adorned with a branch of an olive tree, which symbolizes peace. However, it is not the only coin that presents opposite symbols. Morgan dollars, for example, have three arrows next to an olive branch. Many interpret this contradiction as a message of peace but at the same time a warning indicating that they have enough strength to answer any aggression or attack.

The top coin is decorated with the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. At the bottom of the coin are the words ONE DIME adorned with stars at the beginning and end of the phrase. On the lower right side of the coin is minted the phrase “E Pluribus Unum” which means: One of many.

The reverse of this coin is very special since there are several examples that do not have the bands of the rods fully minted. So all the coins that have complete bands are highly coveted by collectors.

Also Read: Top 15 Most Valuable Indian Head Penny Worth Money

1945 Mercury Dime Value Chart

Quality 1945 Mercury Dime (Philadelphia) 1945 D Mercury Dime (Denver) 1945 S Mercury Dime (San Francisco) 1945 S Micro  Mercury Dime
Good $2.15 $2.15 $2.15 $2.71
Very Good $2.71 $2.71 $2.71 $3.24
Fine $3.24 $3.24 $3.24 $3.49
Very Fine $3.34 $3.34 $3.34 $3.73
Extra Fine $3.49 $3.49 $3.49 $6.21
Uncirculated $4.57 $4.57 $4.57 $18
MS 60 $6.21 $6.21 $6.21 $34
MS65 $31 $34 $34 $110

1945 Mercury Dime Value and Varieties Guide

This coin was printed in three locations: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. Each minting place has its own peculiarities. Especially in San Francisco, where the coin was printed with another typography in some of its letters. Here we will see more in detail each of the characteristics of this coin.

1945 Mercury Dime (Philadelphia)

1945 Mercury Dime (Philadelphia)

  • Category: Mercury Dimes (1916-1945)
  • Mint: Philadelphia
  • Mintage: 159,130,000
  • Obverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
  • Reverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
  • Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
  • Fineness: 0.9
  • Weight: 2.5g
  • ASW: 0.0723oz
  • Melt Value: $1.60 (2/11/2023)
  • Diameter: 17.8mm
  • Edge: Reed

You must remember that all the coins printed in Philadelphia do not have a mint mark, so don’t worry if you don’t find this mark on your coin, it just means that it was minted in Philadelphia and they are usually the most common of all the coins series.

However, there is no reason to be discouraged by this information, since despite the fact that this coin is not sold for exorbitant prices, there is a detail that can make your coin increase its price incredibly.

Regardless of which minting house it comes from, you should always look on the reverse of the coin for the bands that tie the rods of the fasces, since many coins had minting problems and not all of the coins have the bands complete or the separation can be distinguished between each of them.

1945 D Mercury Dime (Denver)

1945 D Mercury Dime (Denver)

  • Category: Mercury Dimes (1916-1945)
  • Mint: Denver
  • Mintage: 40,245,000
  • Obverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
  • Reverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
  • Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
  • Fineness: 0.9
  • Weight: 2.5g
  • ASW: 0.0723oz
  • Melt Value: $1.60 (2/11/2023)
  • Diameter: 17.8mm
  • Edge: Reed

Coins printed in Denver are prized because of the three places where they were struck, it is in Denver that most coins with full bands were struck.

In addition, the 1945 coins have a minting error in the mint mark, which is perforated twice. But later we will talk in more depth about the errors of this coin and how appreciated they are in the market.

1945 S Mercury Dime (San Francisco)

1945 S Mercury Dime (San Francisco)

  • Category: Mercury Dimes (1916-1945)
  • Mint: San Francisco
  • Mintage: 41,290,000
  • Obverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
  • Reverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
  • Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
  • Fineness: 0.9
  • Weight: 2.5g
  • ASW: 0.0723oz
  • Melt Value: $1.60 (2/11/2023)
  • Diameter: 17.8mm
  • Edge: Reed

The San Francisco mint became famous for this coin because its mint mark printing is smaller than normal and also has slight differences in the typography of the letter S.

In fact, San Francisco coins have a sub-category called Micro S, with a small dry mark. If you manage to find a fully banded Micro S, rest assured you have some valuable coin on your hands.

Also Read: Top 15 Most Valuable Roosevelt Dimes Worth Money

1945 Mercury Dime History

Charles Barber was the mint’s chief engraver from 1879 to 1917. Barber did not enjoy a good reputation, as many derided the design of his Nickles, which did not have the word “Cents” on the coin.

This made the job easier for the counterfeiters, who gilded the nickels and passed them off as a gold half-eagle, which had a value of $5.

In 1880 he wanted to redesign the dime, but there were rumors that Barber wanted to do the design.

Many people suspect that in order for him to make the design, he made it difficult for the Mint to find the best option.

Barber set strict rules and a very low sum for the prize winner. Many artists refused to participate and in the end, a design by Braber was used.

But people hated Braber’s coins and just after the 25 years required to change the design of the coin, another contest was created, to which Barber applied again, but this time Adolph Weinman’s design was the winner. That’s how the Mercury Dime came to be.

The coin’s real name is Winged Liberty Head Dime and is named in reference to Lady Liberty’s winged hat on the face of the coin. It is not known why the wings were added to the cap, but it is believed to have been influenced by his teacher Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who had an obsession with feathers on coins.

Lady Liberty’s model is Elsie Kachel Stevens, the wife of Wallace Stevens, a famous writer, and poet. Adolph never publicly claimed that Elsie was the model.

However, it is known that the couple rented one of Weinman’s properties, that they were very close friends and unofficial sources say that Weinman said that the model was the wife of a friend who lived on the second floor of where he lived.

It was later confirmed that it was the same couple who lived in Weinman’s second-floor apartment, making unofficial accounts much more credible.

The Mercury Dime was a successful design that lasted beyond the statutory 25 years and only changed after the death of former President Roosevelt in 1946 when the government decided to make a new design honoring the memory of the former president.

1945 Mercury Dime Grading

The Mercury Dimes were minted in 3 different places and it is essential that you know through this video all their particularities and what is the degree of value they have in the market.

List of 1945 Mercury Dime Errors

Errors in the minting of a coin can cause its price to rise considerably. The Mercury Dimes were not free from bugs, so we’ve named them here so you can identify them.

1. 1945 Mercury Dime Error #1

1945 Mercury Dime Error #1

In this case, the coin has lost its shape and the metal has come out of the frame due to problems in the striking process. Such a coin in the MS65 classification with full bands can sell for $4,500.

2. 1945 Mercury Dime Error #2

This coin has the same bug as the previous coin, with the only difference being that most of the samples did not hit well and were partially rendered. That is why finding these coins with full bands is almost impossible. In this case, the price of an MS62 coin without full bands is $800.

3. 1945 Mercury Dime DD Horizontal RPM Error

The mint mark was added by hand until 1989 because it is possible to find dry marks in different positions. This error is called a re-perforated mint mark and its initials are RPM. An MS 60 grade coin fetches about $450, while an MS 65 coin can be worth as much as $850.

So that you can master the different variations of this coin, we leave you a video with the most common errors of the Mercury Dime. That way you’ll know what to look for when you come across one of these models.

1945 Mercury Dime FAQ

Is a 1945 dime rare?

Not at all! The 1945 Mercury Head Dime is a common coin with the only exception of the ones that have the full fasces band struck. However, it is a coin that is gaining interest among collectors and it would not be a surprise if its value increases in the next 20 years.

How much is a 1945 Mercury dime worth no mint mark?

If your coin does not have a mint mark, it means that it was minted in Philadelphia. More than 159 million coins have been minted there and currently, a grade MS66 FB coin sells for approximately $18,000.

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