Among Mercury dimes no issue is more famous or more eagerly sought than the 1916-D. The mintage of 264,000 pieces is far and away the lowest among circulation strikes of this type. As a first year issue a fair number of Mint State coins have survived, although the distribution of this issue in the Upper Midwest meant that percentage-wise fewer reached areas with a large numismatic population in comparison than for the 1916 and 1916-S Mercury issues. There were simply not as many numismatists active in the regions serviced by the Denver Mint.

The entire mintage of the 1916-D was released in November of that year. On November 24, Mint Director F.J.H. von Engelken received orders from the Treasury Department for four million quarter dollars to meet an urgent demand for that denomination. The Denver Mint was retasked to fill these orders, and the facility suspended production of all other denominations to enable a delivery of 6,540,800 quarters of the outgoing Barber type.

While circulated survivors also enjoy strong demand in today's market, advanced numismatists are aware that the ownership of a Mint State 1916-D Mercury dime is the sign of a truly important collection.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the Spring 2023 Showcase Auction, where it realized $28,800.