"Imagine a coin that celebrates freedom of thought on one side and the power of the government to beat you to death on the other other." -- The Mercury Dime: A Coin With A "Split" Personality http://www.coin-newbies.com/articles/mercury.html
As on many coins, the olive branch represents our desire for peace. The fasces represents our readiness for war. (Remember that in 1916 the US had not entered WWI but was prepared to if need be.) I have never heard anyone say the fasces represent a threat against US citizens.
Merchants and Thieves It is not really Mercury on the dime, but Liberty and the wings on her head represent Freedom of Thought. The coin is properly called a "Winged Liberty Head Dime." The designer was Adolph W. Weinman and we accept that this head is actually a highly-detailed instance of the same figure on the Walking Liberty Half Dollar. In many ways, this coin is direct descendent of the denarius of the Roman Republic. Not only are the images similar, but the coins are about the same size. The denarius was thicker and heavier at 3.5 grams to the 2.5 of the Merc, but the diameters are about the same. Mercury was the Roman god of merchants -- and thieves. The Greek equivalent was Hermes -- god of travelers -- and thieves. The MERC root is found in "merchant" and "market," etc. According to myths, Hermes (Mercury) stole the cattle of Apollo but avoided punishment by giving the god the first Lyre, a harp Mercury made by stealing the shell of the tortoise. Mercury's symbols include the Caduceus, the rod with snakes. This was a morph from the staff with white ribbons, like a white flag of neutrality, that messengers carried even through battlezones. It became identified with the immunity all states accorded to doctors, the wards of Ascelepius, the divine healer. He also often carries a bag of coins.
The fasces doen't normally indicate a readiness for war. It symbolizes the power and authority of government as the will of its people (The binding together of the individual rods, the individual people) into a strong single unit that can enforce its authority over its citizens. And the axe (which is not strictly speaking a part of the fasces) indicates the the extension of this power to the point of being able to extend that power to the point of execution against its own citizens and others. So the comment "power of the government to beat you to death on the other other." is not that far out of line.
the mercury dime was my first ever circ find when i started collecting, its in great condition, almost looks brand new. its by far my favorite coin
The coin design is probably inappropriate for the US and makes one wonder how the decision was made to put the fasces on the reverse of an American coin in the first place instead of the traditional eagle.
I think it is a rather beautiful design; especially when you consider what it replaced. Don't get me wrong, I love Barber dimes and respect Charles Barber very much. I just think his designs were rather dull. I'll bet Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Teddy Roosevelt would agree!!!
Yeah that's an utterly useless source. Now how about a real source, at least in suport of your unsubstantiated claim. First: As the original symbol of Facism, it was lifted evidently from the Mercury Dime then because the Dime predates the upsurp of the symbol by nearly 20 years. Furthermore, the entry clarily reads that the symbol represented Unity through Strength, no different than the Don't Thread on me snake cartoon done by Benjamin Franklin and the the chain link reverse of the early American Coins. The fact that its been on the US Senate seal and hanging on the US house of representitive for nearly 100 years all but destroys the contention that you made. I am will, however, to consider better documentation for your statement. Ruben
