In 1916 they came out with the Mercury dime, standing liberty quarter, and walking liberty half. Whoever was responsible should be designated as a saint, surely.
Yep they had to wait a long time for Barber to croak. His coins were very plain. (The only ones he did that I liked were the series he did for the kingdom of Hawaii)
See my post above. Roosevelt was tired of our ugly coinage and greatly admired the Greeks' coinage. He instigated it, against the wishes of Barber. And nearly everyone else.
In 1916, Babe Ruth was a pitcher for Boston. His record was 23-12 with an ERA of 1.75 and 23 complete games. He only had 3 HRs that year! (warming up for the baseball commemmoratives!)
Frank - Teddy left office in 1909. So it's kind of hard to say he is responsible for the coinage designs in 1916. Yes he was responsible for many changes in design of the earlier gold coinage. But it's a bit of a stretch to say he was responsible for the designs of 1916. If anything, I believe the designs of 1916 had more to do with the country's political desire for peace, there was a war raging in Europe, than anything else. I expect the expression of that desire was more of a collective effort than that of any one man. Our coinage has often reflected, or used to anyway, the collective political desire of the nation. But if searching for credit, since Weinman designed 2 of the 3 coins, I suppose it could be given to him.
The 1916 issues are indeed great coins and will be admired and revered for a very long time. Most people will agree they are incredible designs. I think we have some good looking coins now, but they are saturated with other non-stellar coins. For 1916, how many designs did the mint have to come up with? Now how many are there for 2012 alone? Every design simply can not be incredible. Kinda sad really......I can't help but think about the sports card market.
Actually, Doug, Teddy started the replacement designs. It was a result of the Act of September 26, 1890, which mandated that 25 years pass before design changes, that required the delay in design changes, so Roosevelt, who initiated the changes, although was instrumental, could not change the other designs during his tenure. However, the changes from blah designs to modernistic yet classical designs had been initiated by TR.
Oh I don't disagree that he expressed the desire for it to happen. I just don't think the responsibility for the designs of 1916 rests with him (there was too much that happened in the intervening years) like it does with the earlier gold. He actually payed a part in the specific design of those coins. I believe the specific designs of the 1916 coins were a direct result of the collective political attitudes of the country, and nothing else. Had there been no war in Europe I have little doubt that the designs of the 1916 coins would have differed greatly.
Adolph Weinman was a student of Augustus St. Gaudens and collaborator at the NY Students Art League. There is a wonderful St Gaudens bronze in the Met on the court.
