1867

1916-D 10C MS66 Full Bands PCGS. The rarity and desira 1916-D[10C] MS66 Full Bands PCGS.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:15,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1916-D 10C MS66 Full Bands PCGS. The rarity and desira 1916-D[10C] MS66 Full Bands PCGS.
<B>1916-D<10C> MS66 Full Bands PCGS.</B></I> The rarity and desirability of this perennially popular issue are explained by an unlikely confluence of factors, perhaps unfortunately for buyers of premium-quality 1916-D dimes, and fortunately for sellers of those dimes. According to David W. Lange's <I>The Complete Guide to Mercury Dimes (2nd ed.),</B></I> a December 1914 letter from the Executive Committee of the New York Numismatic Club that found its way to Mint and Treasury officials provided the impetus for design changes to our minor silver coinage, the cent having been redesigned in 1909 and the nickel in 1913. By April 1915 it was a foregone conclusion that new designs for the dime, quarter, and half would replace the staid Victorian designs of Mint Engraver Charles Barber. By December 1915 three artists had been contacted to submit trial designs for the new coinage. By February 1916 Adolph A. Weinman had learned that his design submissions for the dime and half dollar would be memorialized in silver. By late August, five pairs of dies bearing the new Mercury dime design had been sent to the Denver Mint. But there, progress halted. Subsequent tweaks of the design (in the relief and other details), the need for approval from AT&T and a vending-machine manufacturer, general confusion, uncertainty, and indirection, and the Denver Mint's focus on quarter dollar production combined to postpone Mercury dime production there. A scant 264,000 pieces of the key 1916-D were coined sometime late in the year.<BR> This Premium Gem, Full Bands example is beautifully toned on both sides in a blend of light bronze and apple-green, with silver-gray highpoints. Brilliant cartwheel luster radiates through the transparent toning. The all-important central horizontal bands binding the fasces are fully split all along their length. The strike is bold, although the lower diagonal band shows slight softness at the highpoint. Careful examination with a loupe reveals a couple of ticks on Liberty's neck, one above the eye, and a final one on her cap, none of them singularly distracting but which perhaps overall limit an even higher grade. Seldom seen finer, and a coin that should excite a number of audiences. Population: 16 in 66, 6 finer (11/05).<BR><I>From The Larry Shapiro #1 All-Time Finest Mercury Dimes Full Bands Basic PCGS Registry Set.</B></I>