I just got an email this morning that I placed 3rd in the Q. David Bowers YN Literary Award for my essay! I'm getting $100 in books from Whitman! Working on attending the Worlds Fair of Money to attend the Awards Ceremony. For all interested, the essay is below: 1916: A year of beauty In 1997 Congress passed the State Quarters Act. This act enabled the State Quarters Program. I used to believe this to be the greatest year in United States coin collecting. However, I now realize how young and naive I was to think that. The State Quarters cannot be compared to the beautiful silver coinage released in 1916. In fact, they cannot even be compared to that year. For this reason, the topic of this essay is to outline the beautiful, newly released silver coins of 1916. Before I can outline the currency of 1916, I first must tell of the events of that year. In 1916 the United States had just reelected Democrat Woodrow Wilson for president in a narrow election against Republican Charles E. Hughes. Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana had also just become the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives. World War I had been raging for 2 years in Europe. United States involvement would follow in 1917. The Chicago Cubs also played their first game at Weeghman Park (now Wrigley Field) in which they beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6. The first coin I will focus on is the Winged Liberty Head Dime, or more commonly known as the Mercury Dime. Designed by Adolph A. Weinman (whose monogram appears to the right of Liberty’s neck), this beautiful coin features a representation of Liberty topped by wings on the obverse and a fasces, olive branch, and battle axe on the reverse. The wings topping Liberty’s head are meant to symbolize liberty of thought and the fasces, olive branch, and battle axe represent our strength in national unity, our readiness to defend our freedoms, and our desire for peace. As a regular United States silver coin, this dime’s composition is 90% silver and 10% copper. It weighs 2.5 grams, which means the Mercury Dime has .07234 ounces of silver total. The Mercury Dime, like the Roosevelt Dime and most silver coins, has a reeded edge. This dime was minted in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco; making the mintmarks nothing for Philadelphia, “D” for Denver, and “S” for San Francisco. Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and National Grading Company (NGC) use a special designation for the Mercury Dimes when grading an example of exceptional strike-quality. This designation is called Full Bands, and appears on the slab after the grade as a simple “FB”. This designation entails that the bands holding the axe and fasces have a flawless separation. This, of course, is subject to interpretation by the grader. The second coin I will focus on is the Standing Liberty Quarter. Designed by Hermon A. MacNeil (whose initial appears to the right of the pedestal), the Standing Liberty Quarter features an armored Liberty standing upright wielding a shield and olive branch on a pedestal on the obverse, and an eagle surrounded in 13 stars on the reverse. It is believed that Liberty wears armor to raise military awareness because of World War I, although United States involvement did not take place until the following year. The silver content in this coin is also 90% with the other 10% being copper. It weighs 6.25 grams, making it have .18084 ounces of silver. Like the current National Parks Quarter, the Standing Liberty Quarter has a reeded edge. It had a mere mintage of 52,000 in 1916 making it quite rare. In fact this coin is so rare that an AU-53 example that sold at the 2007 Heritage FUN Show in Orlando, FL sold for $10,373. As the Mercury Dime was, it was also minted in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco with the same mintmarks appearing for each. There was a controversy over the first design of the Standing Liberty Quarter which left the right breast of Liberty exposed so, in a 1917 design change, chain mail covers the exposed breast of Liberty. This also created 2 variations of 1917 Standing Liberty Quarters. PCGS and NGC also offer the Full Head designation for extremely well-struck examples of this coin. The third, and last, coin I will focus on is the Walking Liberty Half Dollar. This coin was designed by Adolph A. Weinman (who also designed the Mercury Dime); his monogram appears under the tips of the wing feathers of the eagle. It features a depiction of Liberty with an outstretched hand wearing a flag walking east towards a rising sun on the obverse, and an eagle on the reverse. The obverse symbolizes the United States reaching out to our eastern, European brothers while they fight World War I. Like the others, it is 90% silver and 10% copper. It weighs 12.5 grams, making the silver content .36169 ounces. Also, like the others, it has a reeded edge. The Walking Liberty Half Dollar was also minted in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco, displaying the no, “D”, and “S” mintmarks. This is viewed by myself and many as one of the most beautiful United States coin designs and certainly one of Weinman’s finest. Another reason this coin is perceived as one of the most beautiful is, because of the large planchet, this coin can sometimes produce very beautiful and colorful toning. 1916 was certainly a definitive year for United States numismatics. Three new designs were released and multiple key dates were created. The Mercury Dime, Standing Liberty Quarter, and Walking Liberty Half Dollar have defined a century of numismatics. Nearly 100 years have passed, and they are still considered beautiful works of art. For these reasons, and the prices of silver, their values continue to rise. These works of art have seen a simpler time and lived to see a new era, and for that reason, they are now the joys of numismatists everywhere.
Nice essay. Congratulations and keep on writing. Good luck on your quest to get to Boston for the award.
Congratulations! That is a great honor. I hope this will spur you to continue your numismatic education and I hope to see more great articles from you in the future. You will enjoy WFOM.
Congratulations on your award. 1916 certainly was an important year in American numismatics. Enjoy Boston.
