Mercury dime
Encyclopedia
The Mercury dime is a ten-cent coin
struck by the United States Mint
from 1916 to 1945. Designed by Adolph Weinman and also known as the Winged Liberty dime, it gained its common name as the obverse depiction of a young Liberty, identifiable by her winged Phrygian cap
, was confused with the Roman god Mercury. Weinman is believed to have used Elsie Stevens, the wife of lawyer and poet Wallace Stevens
, as a model. The coin's reverse
depicts a fasces
, symbolizing unity and strength, and an olive branch, signifying peace.
By 1916, the dime, quarter, and half dollar designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber
had been struck for 25 years, and could be replaced by the Treasury
, of which the Mint is a part, without Congressional authorization. Mint officials were under the misapprehension that the designs had to be changed, and held a competition among three sculptors, in which Barber, who had been in his position for 36 years, also took part. Weinman's designs for the dime and half dollar were selected.
Although the new coin's design was admired for its beauty, the Mint made modifications to it upon learning that vending machine manufacturers were having difficulties making the new dime work in their devices. The coin continued to be minted until 1945, when the Treasury ordered that a new design, featuring recently deceased president Franklin Roosevelt, take its place.
passed an act providing:
The Barber coinage had been introduced in 1892; similar dimes
, quarter dollars
, and half dollars
, all designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber
. The introduction had followed a design competition to replace the Seated Liberty coinage
, which had been struck since the 1830s. The Mint had offered only a small prize to the winner, and all invited artists refused to submit entries. The competition was opened to the public, and the judging committee found no entry suitable. Mint Director Edward Leech responded to the failed competition by directing Barber to prepare new designs for the dime, quarter, and half dollar. The Barber coinage, after its release, attracted considerable public dissatisfaction.
Beginning in 1905, successive presidential administrations had attempted to bring modern, beautiful designs to United States coins. Following the redesign of the double eagle
, eagle, half eagle
and quarter eagle
in 1907 and 1908, as well as the cent and nickel
redesigns of 1909 and 1913 respectively, advocates of replacing the Barber coins began to push for the change when the coins' minimum term expired in 1916. As early as 1914, Victor David Brenner
, designer of the Lincoln cent
, submitted unsolicited designs for the silver coins. He was told in response that Secretary of the Treasury
William G. McAdoo was completely occupied with other matters.
On January 2, 1915, an interview with Philadelphia Mint
Superintendent Adam M. Joyce appeared in the Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record:
Dime (United States coin)
The dime is a coin 10 cents, one tenth of a United States dollar, labeled formally as "one dime". The denomination was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The dime is the smallest in diameter and is the thinnest of all U.S...
struck by the United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
from 1916 to 1945. Designed by Adolph Weinman and also known as the Winged Liberty dime, it gained its common name as the obverse depiction of a young Liberty, identifiable by her winged Phrygian cap
Phrygian cap
The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia. In the western provinces of the Roman Empire it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty, perhaps through a confusion with the pileus,...
, was confused with the Roman god Mercury. Weinman is believed to have used Elsie Stevens, the wife of lawyer and poet Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...
, as a model. The coin's reverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
depicts a fasces
Fasces
Fasces are a bundle of wooden sticks with an axe blade emerging from the center, which is an image that traditionally symbolizes summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity"...
, symbolizing unity and strength, and an olive branch, signifying peace.
By 1916, the dime, quarter, and half dollar designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber
Charles E. Barber
Charles Edward Barber was the sixth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1879 until his death in 1917. He succeeded his father, William Barber, in the position...
had been struck for 25 years, and could be replaced by the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
, of which the Mint is a part, without Congressional authorization. Mint officials were under the misapprehension that the designs had to be changed, and held a competition among three sculptors, in which Barber, who had been in his position for 36 years, also took part. Weinman's designs for the dime and half dollar were selected.
Although the new coin's design was admired for its beauty, the Mint made modifications to it upon learning that vending machine manufacturers were having difficulties making the new dime work in their devices. The coin continued to be minted until 1945, when the Treasury ordered that a new design, featuring recently deceased president Franklin Roosevelt, take its place.
Inception
On September 26, 1890, the United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
passed an act providing:
The Director of the Mint shall have power, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to cause new designs ... to be prepared and adopted ... But no change in the design or die of any coin shall be made oftener than once in twenty-five years from and including the year of the first adoption of the design ... But the Director of the Mint shall nevertheless have power, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to engage temporarily the services of one or more artists, distinguished in their respective departments of art, who shall be paid for such service from the contingent appropriation for the mint at Philadelphia.
The Barber coinage had been introduced in 1892; similar dimes
Dime (United States coin)
The dime is a coin 10 cents, one tenth of a United States dollar, labeled formally as "one dime". The denomination was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The dime is the smallest in diameter and is the thinnest of all U.S...
, quarter dollars
Quarter (United States coin)
A quarter dollar, commonly shortened to quarter, is a coin worth ¼ of a United States dollar, or 25 cents. The quarter has been produced since 1796. The choice of 25¢ as a denomination, as opposed to 20¢ which is more common in other parts of the world, originated with the practice of dividing...
, and half dollars
Half dollar (United States coin)
Half dollar coins have been produced nearly every year since the inception of the United States Mint in 1794. Sometimes referred to as the fifty-cent piece, the only U.S. coin that has been minted more consistently is the cent.-Circulation:...
, all designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber
Charles E. Barber
Charles Edward Barber was the sixth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1879 until his death in 1917. He succeeded his father, William Barber, in the position...
. The introduction had followed a design competition to replace the Seated Liberty coinage
Seated Liberty dollar
The Seated Liberty dollar was the last silver dollar struck before passage of the Coinage Act of 1873, which officially ended production of that denomination...
, which had been struck since the 1830s. The Mint had offered only a small prize to the winner, and all invited artists refused to submit entries. The competition was opened to the public, and the judging committee found no entry suitable. Mint Director Edward Leech responded to the failed competition by directing Barber to prepare new designs for the dime, quarter, and half dollar. The Barber coinage, after its release, attracted considerable public dissatisfaction.
Beginning in 1905, successive presidential administrations had attempted to bring modern, beautiful designs to United States coins. Following the redesign of the double eagle
Double Eagle
A Double Eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. . The coins are made from a 90% gold and 10% copper alloy....
, eagle, half eagle
Half Eagle
The Half Eagle is a United States coin that was produced for circulation from 1795 to 1929 and in commemorative and bullion coins since the 1980s. Composed almost entirely of gold, it has a face value of five dollars...
and quarter eagle
Quarter Eagle
The quarter eagle was a coin issued by the United States with a denomination of two hundred and fifty cents, or two dollars and fifty cents. It was given its name in the Coinage Act of 1792, as a derivation from the US ten-dollar eagle coin...
in 1907 and 1908, as well as the cent and nickel
Nickel (United States coin)
The nickel is a five-cent coin, representing a unit of currency equaling five hundredths of one United States dollar. A later-produced Canadian nickel five-cent coin was also called by the same name....
redesigns of 1909 and 1913 respectively, advocates of replacing the Barber coins began to push for the change when the coins' minimum term expired in 1916. As early as 1914, Victor David Brenner
Victor David Brenner
Victor David Brenner born as Viktoras Barnauskas was an Lithuanian-American sculptor, engraver, and medalist known primarily as the designer of the United States Lincoln Cent.-Biography:...
, designer of the Lincoln cent
Lincoln cent
Below are the mintage figures for the Lincoln penny-Mintage figures:Lincoln wheat cent, 1909-1958 Lincoln Memorial cent, 1959-1982 ...
, submitted unsolicited designs for the silver coins. He was told in response that Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
William G. McAdoo was completely occupied with other matters.
On January 2, 1915, an interview with Philadelphia Mint
Philadelphia Mint
The Philadelphia Mint was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national mint a main priority after the ratification of the Constitution of...
Superintendent Adam M. Joyce appeared in the Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record:
So far as I know ... there is no thought of issuing new coins of the 50-cent, 25-cent, and 10-cent values. If, however, a change is made we all hope that more serviceable and satisfactory coins are produced than the recent Saint-Gaudens double eagle and eagle and the Pratt half and quarter eagle. The buffalo nickel and the Lincoln penny are also faulty from a practical standpoint. All resulted from the desire by the government to mint coins to the satisfaction of artists and not practical coiners.
In January 1915, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury William P. Malburn sent McAdoo a memorandum about the silver subsidiary coinage, noting that "the present silver half dollar, quarter, and dime were changed in 1892, and a new design may, therefore, be adopted in 1916. This can be done any time in the year." In reply, McAdoo wrote "[l]et the mint submit designs before we try anyone else." on the memorandum. McAdoo's response was received by Acting Mint Director Frederic P. Dewey on March 14.
In April 1915, Robert W. Woolley took office as Mint Director. On April 14, he asked Philadelphia Mint Superintendent Adam Joyce to request Chief Engraver Barber, then in his 36th year in office, to prepare new designs. The same day, Malburn requested the opinion of the Treasury Department's Solicitor concerning the Mint view that it could strike new designs for the three denominations in 1916. On April 17, the Solicitor's Office responded that the Mint could change the designs. At the time, the Mint was intensely busy producing the Panama-Pacific commemorativeCommemorative coinCommemorative coins are coins that were issued to commemorate some particular event or issue. Most world commemorative coins were issued from the 1960s onward, although there are numerous examples of commemorative coins of earlier date. Such coins have a distinct design with reference to the...
series, and immediate action was not taken. In October, Barber was summoned to Washington to discuss coin designs with Woolley, though it is uncertain whether or not he had already prepared sketches for the new coinage.
On December 3, Woolley met with the Commission of Fine Arts. Woolley asked the Commission to view sketches produced by the Mint's engraving department. Barber was present to explain the coinage process to the Commission members. Woolley suggested to the members that if they did not like the Mint's work, they should select sculptors to submit designs for the new pieces. It was Woolley's intent to have distinct designs for the dime, quarter and half dollar—previously, the three pieces had been near-identical. The director informed the Commission that as the existing coinage had been in use for 25 years, it would have to be changed—something which numismatic historian David Lange calls a "misinterpretation of the coinage laws".
The Commission disliked the sketches from the Mint (submitted by Barber) and selected sculptors Adolph Weinman, Hermon MacNeil and Albin PolasekAlbin PolasekAlbin Polasek was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than four hundred works during his career, two hundred of which are now displayed in the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Florida.-Career:Born as Albín Polášek in Frenštát, Moravia , Polasek...
to submit proposals for the new coins. The sculptors could submit multiple sketches. Although the Mint could decide to use a design on a denomination not intended by its sculptor, the designs were not fully interchangeable—by statute, an eagle had to appear on the reverse of the quarter and half dollar, but could not appear on the dime. Woolley hoped that each sculptor would be successful with one piece.
The three sculptors submitted design sketches in mid-February, and on February 23 met with Woolley in New York so the artists could make presentations of the work to him and answer his questions. After discussions between Woolley and McAdoo, Weinman was notified on February 28 that five of his sketches had been selected—for the dime and half dollar, and the reverse of the quarter. The same day, Woolley wrote to MacNeil to tell him he would sculpt the quarter's obverse, and to Polasek to inform him of his lack of success. Members of the Commission persuaded Woolley that so much should not be entrusted to a single artist, and MacNeil was allowed to design both sides of the quarter, subject to his making modifications to his submission.
On March 3, the new coins were publicly announced, with the Treasury noting, "[d] esigns of these coins must be changed by law every 25 years and the present 25 year period ends with 1916." The press release indicated that the Treasury hoped production of the new coins would begin in about two months, once the designs were finalized. The same day, Woolley wrote to Mint Engraver Barber, telling him that his sketches were rejected, and that models from Weinman and MacNeil would arrive at the Philadelphia Mint no later than May 1. According to numismatic historian Walter Breen, Barber became "sullen and totally uncooperative". Lange notes that "numerous delays were encountered as the artists fine-tuned their models while simultaneously avoiding obstacles thrown in their path by Barber. While his observations regarding many aspects of practical coinage were quite accurate, they clearly could have been presented in a more constructive manner." In his book on Mercury dimes, Lange notes that Barber, by then aged 75, had been "compelled over the past ten years to participate in the systematic undoing of a lifetime's achievements"; he had to participate in the process which resulted in coins designed by others replacing ones designed by him.
Design
Weinman never disclosed the name of the model for the obverse, and no person ever claimed to have been her. The winged Liberty is widely believed, however, to have been based on a 1913 bust Weinman sculpted of Elsie Stevens, wife of Wallace StevensWallace StevensWallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...
. A lawyer, Wallace Stevens later became famous as a poet, and Wallace and Elsie Stevens rented an apartment from Weinman from 1909 to 1916. In a draft of his unpublished autobiography, Woolley states that Weinman refused to name the model, but told him it was the wife of a lawyer who lived above his Manhattan apartment. (Woolley, in a later version, omits the location, saying only that Weinman said it was the wife of a lawyer friend). Woolley recorded that Weinman told him that the model wore the top of an old pair of stockings to simulate the cap. In 1966, Holly Stevens, Wallace and Elsie's daughter, noted in her edition of her father's letters that Elsie had been the model for Weinman's dime and half dollar. Liberty's features also bear a resemblance to the face of Victory in Weinman's 1909 statuary group erected in Baltimore, the Union Soldiers and Sailors' Monument.
Weinman's dime depicts Liberty with a wreath of tight curls, and wearing a traditional pileusPileus (hat)The pileus — also pilleus or pilleum — was a cap worn by sailors in Ancient Greece and later copied by Ancient Rome. It was a brimless, felt cap, somewhat similar to a fez...
, or Liberty cap. His depiction of the pileus as a winged cap has provoked comparisons with Roman Republic denariiDenariusIn the Roman currency system, the denarius was a small silver coin first minted in 211 BC. It was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus...
, comparisons which art historian Cornelius Vermeule considered superficial. Weinman wrote that he considered the winged cap to symbolize "liberty of thought". Vermeule suggests that one reason for the use of wings was that Weinman, in common with many in the tradition of Augustus Saint-GaudensAugustus Saint-GaudensAugustus Saint-Gaudens was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance"...
, whom Weinman had studied under, liked the effect of feathers done in relief. The reverse depicts the fascesFascesFasces are a bundle of wooden sticks with an axe blade emerging from the center, which is an image that traditionally symbolizes summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity"...
of war and justice, contrasted with a large olive branch symbolizing peace. According to Breen, "Weinman's symbolic message in this design ... was clearly an updated 'Don't tread on me'". The lettering is in Roman style, and is made as discreet as possible. Weinman's monogram, AW, appears on the obverse, midway between the date and the letter Y in "LIBERTY". The mintmark is located on the reverse, to the right of the O in "ONE DIME".
Woolley described the design in his 1916 report to the Secretary of the Treasury:
The design of the dime, owing to the smallness of the coin, has been held quite simple. The obverse shows a head of Liberty with winged cap. The head is simple and firm in form, the profile forceful. The reverse shows a design of the bundle of rods, with battle-ax, known as "Fasces", and symbolical of unity, wherein lies the nation's strength. Surrounding the fasces is a full-foliaged branch of olive, symbolical of peace.
Preparations
After Weinman's success in the competition, he visited the Mint to discuss conversion of his models to finished dies. On his first visit, he found Barber absent, but had a productive talk with long-time Assistant Engraver George T. MorganGeorge T. MorganGeorge T. Morgan was an English United States Mint engraver, who is famous for designing many popular coins, such as the Morgan Dollar, and the Columbian Exposition half dollar.-Biography:...
. Other visits followed, and on March 29, Woolley wrote to Superintendent Joyce, "[c]onfidentially, the sculptors designing the new coins felt that on their last trip Mr. Morgan was much more cordial and cooperative than Mr. Barber was. I realize I am dealing with artistic temperaments at both ends." A severe case of tonsillitisTonsillitisTonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils most commonly caused by viral or bacterial infection. Symptoms of tonsillitis include sore throat and fever. While no treatment has been found to shorten the duration of viral tonsillitis, bacterial causes are treatable with antibiotics...
delayed Weinman's work, and caused him to request an extension of the May 1 deadline. On May 29, Woolley wrote Weinman that the designs, both for the dime and half dollar, were accepted by the Mint.
As no Barber pieces of any of the three denominations had been struck in 1916, the pent-up demand was high. On June 24, Woolley wrote to Joyce:
The dime is all right. Please see that working dies for the three mints are made as rapidly as possible, in order that the coinage of the new dimes may be begun quickly. The demand for these coins is exceedingly great. Everyone to whom the coins have been shown here thinks they are beautiful. I beg to enjoin you not to pay out any of the new dimes until you have received special instructions from this office.
Two days later, work on dies was stopped when it was decided that the lettering insufficiently distinct. The delay, however, did not prevent the Mint from authorizing payment to Weinman for his designs. On July 15, Woolley resigned as Mint director to work as publicity chairman of the WilsonWoodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
reelection campaign. As the new director, Friedrich Johannes Hugo von EngelkenFriedrich Johannes Hugo von EngelkenFriedrich Johannes Hugo "F. H." von Engelken was Director of the United States Mint from 1916 to 1917.-Biography:F. H. von Engelken was born in Denmark in 1881. He later moved to Florida...
, did not take office until September 1, 1916, Fred H. Chaffin became acting director. With none of the new designs ready for production, and subsidiary silver coinage in great demand, the Mint had no alternative other than to strike Barber dimes and quarters by the million.
After the lettering problems were addressed, Acting Director Chafflin ordered a halt to production of Barber dimes on August 29, and ordered production of the Mercury dime to begin the following day at the Philadelphia Mint. Barber had prepared dies for the Denver and San Francisco mints, but they were still in transit. Small quantities of the new dime had been sent to vending machine and pay phone manufacturers; on September 6, two companies reported problems with the coins. AT&TAT&TAT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
complained that the new dimes were too thick and would not work in their phones. American Sales Machines (owned by Clarence W. Hobbs, whose complaints had delayed the Buffalo nickel) requested design changes so that its counterfeit detector could work. Von Engelken ordered production of the dimes halted. In reality, the dime was not too thick, but the rim of the coin struck too high, a defect known as a "fin". This had been an ongoing problem as Weinman's design was produced, but was thought to have been corrected. No dimes had yet been struck at the two branch mints. Minting of Barber dimes resumed. After an article quoting Joyce appeared in the press, Von Engelken instructed his staff not to speak to reporters.
The problems with the dime were a potential embarrassment with a presidential campaign underway. McAdoo enquired how much time would be required for another design to be struck; he was informed it would take months. Instead, Weinman prepared modified designs, separating the letters of "LIBERTY" slightly from the rim, and lowering the relief. McAdoo approved the revised design on September 28. These changes assuaged the concerns of both firms when the revised design was put into production. Von Engelken authorized Joyce to produce coinage dies on October 6, and the new coins were put into production. The earlier strikes, including those reclaimed from the testing companies, were melted, though one specimen is currently known to exist.
Release and production
The Mercury dime was released into circulation October 30, 1916, the same day that production of the Barber dime ceased. Several newspapers complained that Weinman's monogram was too prominent on the obverse; according to The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the Treasury was considering removal. On November 4, Weinman enquired of Joyce whether any removal was contemplated; he received in reply compliments on his design and Joyce's statement that the Mint was not responsible for what appeared in print. Weinman wrote again, hoping to make changes to the dime, but was told that only an act of Congress could change the design.
Of the three circulating coins first struck in 1916, the Mercury dime was particularly praised. On the first day of circulation, quantities sold were limited at banks. One Minneapolis newspaper dubbed it the "battle ax" or "golf" dime, reflecting a lack of knowledge concerning the fasces. A letter to the editor in the January 1917 The Numismatist appears to be the first numismatic reference referring to the coin by the nickname "Mercury". Lange traced the history of this misnomer,
This misattribution appeared almost immediately in the popular press, as writers imagined that the obviously female Liberty was actually a representation of Mercury, messenger to the Roman gods of mythology and quite certainly a male. It is popularly known as the Mercury Dime even today, despite noble but ill-fated attempts by some publications to reverse this error.
Chief Engraver Barber died on February 18, 1917, having served 37 years in office. His successor was the 72-year-old Morgan, who had served as assistant for Barber's entire tenure.
The dime was struck in substantial numbers until 1930, excepting 1921 to 1923, when an economic downturn caused the need for coins to diminish. With the onset of the Great DepressionGreat DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, mintages dropped again in 1930 and 1931; coinage of dimes was suspended entirely in 1932 and 1933. The low mintage dates are not rare today as many were hoarded. With the economy beginning to pick up again, coinage resumed in 1934, and the dime was struck in large numbers each year through the end of the series.
The death of President Franklin Roosevelt in April 1945 brought immediate calls for a coin to be issued with his image. As Roosevelt had been closely associated with the March of DimesMarch of DimesThe March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...
, and as the dime's design could be replaced without the need for congressional action as it had been struck for more than 25 years, the Treasury chose that denomination to honor Roosevelt. Mint Chief Engraver John R. SinnockJohn R. SinnockJohn Ray Sinnock was the eighth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint and designer of the Roosevelt dime and Franklin half dollar, among other U.S. coins. His initials "JS" on the dime can be found at the base of the Roosevelt bust...
, Morgan's successor, executed the design featuring Roosevelt, which replaced the Mercury dime in 1946, making 1945 the last year in which it was struck. According to Mint Director Nellie Tayloe RossNellie Tayloe RossNellie Tayloe Ross was an American politician, the 14th Governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927, and director of the United States Mint from 1933-1953. She was the first woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state. To date, she remains the only woman to have served as governor of Wyoming...
, a total of 2,677,232,488 Mercury dimes were struck.
Collecting
The 1916-D Mercury dime, struck at the Denver Mint, is the key dateKey dateIn coin collecting, a key date refers to a date of a given coin series or set that is harder to obtain than other dates in the series. The next level of difficult to obtain coins in series are often referred to as semi-key dates or simply semi-keys.For example, the 1909-S VDB is the key date in...
of the series, with a mintage of 264,000 pieces. Few varieties are known in the Mercury dime series. The 1942/41 is generally termed an overdate; it is actually a doubled-die error—the obverse die from which the coins were struck took one impression from a 1942-dated hub and one from a 1941-dated hub (until the 1990s, dies required two strikes from a hub for the design to be fully impressed). Sinnock stated that the pieces were most likely struck in late 1941, when preparation of the 1942 dies was under way. Another popular variety is the 1945-S "Micro S", with a smaller-than-normal mintmark. This variety was caused by the Mint's wartime use of a puncheon (used to impress mintmarks on dies and hubs) which had been made for use in early 20th century Philippine coinage struck at San Francisco, which had only a small space for the mintmark. Beginning in 1928, coin albums were issued by private publishers, mostly in folder form, which were widely used to collect the pieces. This led to a great increase in interest in collecting current coinage by date and mintmark.
Many Mercury dimes were not fully struck, meaning that design detail was lost even before the coins entered circulation. Exceptionally well-struck dimes display "full bands", that is, the horizontal bands on the fasces show full detail. In circulation, the reverse tended to more readily display wear due to a lower rim in relation to the relief of the design. Most well-circulated dimes show more wear to the reverse.
Although no 1923 or 1930 dimes were struck at Denver, specimens appearing to be 1923-D or 1930-D dimes may be encountered. These counterfeits are struck in good silver, allowing the coiner to profit on the difference between the cost of production and the face value. They did not appear until after World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, are invariably found in worn condition, and are believed to have been struck in the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, a country known to have counterfeited US coins during World War II.