1916-D Mercury Dime. MS-65 FB (PCGS).

1916-D Mercury Dime. MS-65 FB (PCGS).，Offered is a beautifully toned and exceptionally well preserved example of this fabled Denver Mint Mercury dime. Both sides display golden-rose patina that is both bolder and more extensive on the obverse. Full satin luster is seen throughout, as is razor sharp striking detail. With only 264,000 pieces produced, the 1916-D has the lowest mintage and is the undisputed key date issue in the circulation strike Mercury dime series. The entire mintage was released in November 1916, after which the Denver Mint received orders from Mint Director F.J.H. von Engelken to suspend dime coinage and concentrate on quarters. The Treasury Department had placed orders with the Mint director for four million quarters, and the Denver Mint duly complied striking new examples of the outgoing Barber type. Indeed, the total mintage of the 1916-D Barber quarter reached 6,540,800 pieces, one of the more respectable totals in its series. By the time the Denver Mint resumed coinage of dimes, 1917-dated dies had arrived and the facility set about striking examples of the 1917-D.Scarce in all but the lowest circulated grades, the 1916-D Mercury dime is particularly desirable in Mint State, as here. Such pieces are often sharply struck, and they always display the textured fields that are characteristic of the 1916 hub from which the dies were produced. Expertly produced and carefully preserved, the coin offered here would serve as a highlight in even the finest Mercury dime set.，，