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[L#0238] 1916-S Mercury 10c NGC MS66FB

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:600.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
[L#0238] 1916-S Mercury 10c NGC MS66FB
A gorgeously toned specimen, rings of magenta, greenish gold and darker shades of peripheral toning frame softer, champagne and silver colored centers. The bands are extra bold.

The obverse of Adolph A. Weinman's dime that was introduced in 1916 is dominated by the left-facing profile bust of a young woman whom we know to be the goddess Liberty. She has thickly curled hair framing her face, and these curls are held in check by the close fitting cap she wears. Her cap is somewhat suggestive of a cloche hat, fashionable for women circa 1924-30. Still, the folded over top of the cap reveals that it is not so tight fitting as this. Her head is further adorned with a pair of wings, only one of which is visible. Arranged in a peripheral arc is the legend LIBERTY.

The coin's reverse features a fasces, the ancient symbol of power and authority carried by Roman magistrates. The fasces was a wooden handled ax encased within a circle of wood or iron rods. The rods were held securely against the handle by a leather thong wound around them both horizontally and diagonally. Above the rods protruded the ax head.

Balancing the forces of war and peace, the fasces as depicted on the dime is intertwined with an olive branch. Arranged peripherally in large letters are the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above and the denomination ONE DIME below.