Why put Franklin Delano Roosevelt's bust on a Dime? Polio was one of the most dreaded illnesses of the 20th century, and killed or paralyzed thousands of Americans during the first half of the 20th century. In response, President President D. Roosevelt founded the March of Dimes as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (polio) on January 3, 1938. Roosevelt himself was paralyzed, at age 39, with what at the time was believed to be polio. The original purpose of the Foundation was to raise money for polio research and to care for those afflicted with the disease. March of Dimes was originally the name of the annual fundraising event held in January by the Foundation. Many towns and cities across America held fund raising parades and posted huge thermometer-like talley signs. As the Dimes flowed in and their values totaled up, the results were posted in red on the signs for the public's knowledge. The name March of Dimes for the fundraising campaign was coined by entertainer Eddie Cantor as a play of words on the popular newsreel feature of the day, The March of Time. Along with Cantor, many prominent Hollywood, Broadway Theater, radio, and television stars served as promoters of the charity. Now back to the purpose of this theme: As WWII was approaching an allied victory in April, 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt complained of a throbbing headache and died at age 63. Not only did a shocked populace mourn their beloved fallen leader, they began asking all their political representatives for a fitting memorial to honor his 4-term service to America Within the Treasury Department plans were quickly put in place for the introduction of a new coin to honor President Roosevelt. Since the late President had been afflicted with polio and founded the March of Dimes the Secretary of the Treasury and his staff deemed it appropiate and natural to place FDR's likeness on the Dime. Because the Treasury Department wanted the new dime's issue date to coincide with the upcoming March of Dimescelebration on January 30, (the late President's birthday) 1946, Acting Mint Director, Leland Howard decided to break away from the mint's 40 year tradition of enlisting outside artists to submit designs for new coins. Howard assigned the new design tasks to Chief Engraver, John Ray Sinnock. Howard submitted Sinnock's initial models to the Commission of Fine Arts on October 12, 1945 The Commission rejected them on very specific grounds and recommended an invitational competition for a new dime design, naming five accomplished aculptors as candidates. Bewcause of the Treasuy's time restrictionsd the new Mint Director, Nellie Tayloe Ross rejected the Commision's recommendations. Instead, Sinnock went back to his workshop to make the desired improvements. His small head of Roosevelt with large mottos was replaced by the now familiar, larger portrait with a miniscule IN GOD WE TRUST. As it fit the available space, LIBERTY remained in large letters but was moved to the left from its former position directly above the portrait. The date, and Sinnock's initials JS, were quite small and appeared below the truncation of Roosevelt's neck. The reverse featured an upright torch, symbolizing freedom, flanked by branches of olive and oak, respectively denoting peace and victory. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM was awkwardly spaced between these elements in a single line. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DIME were arranged in arcs around the periphery, separated from one another by ornamental dots. At the eleventh hour, these revised models were approved on January 8, 1946 by the Commission of Fine Arts and Treasury Secretary Fred Vinson. Accompanying this announcement was an order from Director Ross to commence the production of hubs and dies immediately and to begin coinage as soon as possible. As you know the dimes debuted on time and were minted at: Denver (61,043,500) Coin Community Photo Philadelphia (155,250,000) Coin Page Photo San Francisco (27,900,000) Coin Page Photo 1946-D ROOSEVELT DIME 1946 ROOSEVELT DIME OBVERSE 1946-S ROOSEVELT DIME OBVERSE And now you know the rest of the story... Clinker
Judging from the symptoms, he apparently had what is called GBS (Guillain Barré Syndrome) ... Christian
Again, thanks for a good post, Clinker! So yes, it made sense to use that denomination for the FDR coin. Well, I like the previous ("Mercury") design better, but as the decision had been made to honor him this way, the dime was the appropriate pick, I think. Side note: Earlier this year I was in Washington, DC and also visited some of the memorials around the Mall. The FDR Memorial I found very interesting; not "pompous" or "heroic" and yet impressive. Christian
I'm sorry but the original poster brought this up. Franklin Roosevelt had polio. It was a common disease then and doctors could recognize the symptoms.
If you search for DR. SELMA BURKE and ROOSEVELT you will see that it comes up occasionally that John Sinnock was not a great medalist. After his design was rejected by the Citizens Committee, and after they were overruled by Nellie Tayloe Ross, John Sinnock submitted a new design. In the mean time, it seems, a plaque honoring President Roosevelt was installed on the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington DC. While clearly different in specific style, it was produced first -- from sketches the artist made while the President sat -- and this presentation was similar to Sinnock's dime which came later. Generally, the charge has been laid to rest, but continues to resurface. It is not the only charge against Sinnock. If you have a Red Book, look at the 1926 Sesquicentennial Half Dollar reverse and then decide who designed the reverse of the Franklin Half. (Apparently we all agree that Gilroy Roberts crammed the Eagle in there to conform to the law.) On Selma Burke, see here -- http://www.coinresource.com/guide/photograde/pg_10cRooseveltDime.htm http://www.octobergallery.com/artists/burke.htm and speaking of second opinions, do we not agree that this goes beyond irony into the ridiculous. Franklin D. Roosevelt on a gold coin.
No reason to say sorry, but this "was believed to" made sense to me when I read Clinker's article: When we had that tour of the FDR Memorial, this issue came up too. Until then I had not even heard about GBS before ... (Edit) Have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt#Paralytic_illness Guess that the question of what he actually had is a rather "academic" one; Roosevelt founded or supported the March of Dimes as a fundraiser for polio treatment and research. Christian
Another good article, actually didnt know this so I learned something. Still not a huge fan of the coin's design though.
