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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 489167, member: 57463&quot;]<b>Merchants and Thieves</b></p><p><br /></p><p>It is not really Mercury on the dime, but Liberty and the wings on her head represent Freedom of Thought.&nbsp; The coin is properly called a &quot;Winged Liberty Head Dime.&quot; 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.</p><p><br /></p><p>In many ways, this coin is direct descendent of the denarius of the Roman Republic.&nbsp; Not only are the images similar, but the coins are about the same size.&nbsp; The denarius was thicker and heavier at 3.5 grams to the 2.5 of the Merc, but the diameters are about the same.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mercury was the Roman god of merchants -- and thieves.&nbsp; The Greek equivalent was Hermes -- god of travelers -- and thieves.&nbsp; The MERC root is found in &quot;merchant&quot; and &quot;market,&quot; etc.&nbsp; 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.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mercury&#039;s symbols include the Caduceus, the rod with snakes.&nbsp; This was a morph from the staff with white ribbons, like a white flag of neutrality, that messengers carried even through battlezones.&nbsp; It became identified with the immunity all states accorded to doctors, the wards of Ascelepius, the divine healer.&nbsp; He also often carries a bag of coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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