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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Moen1305, post: 164750, member: 2544&quot;]Here is a little Wiki info:</p><p><br /></p><p><b><font size="4">Roosevelt (1946–present)</font></b></p><p><br /></p><p>Soon after the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in April 1945, legislation was introduced by Virginia Congressman Ralph H. Daughton that called for the replacement of the &quot;Mercury&quot; dime with one bearing Roosevelt&#039;s image. The dime was chosen to honor Roosevelt, partly, due to his efforts in the founding of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (later renamed the March of Dimes), which originally served to raise money for polio research and to aid victims of the disease and their families.</p><p><br /></p><p>Due to the limited amount of time available to design the new coin, the Roosevelt dime was the first regular-issue US coin designed by a Mint employee in more than 40 years. Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock was chosen, as he had already designed a Mint presidential medal of Roosevelt.&nbsp; Sinnock&#039;s first design, submitted on October 12, 1945, was rejected, but a subsequent one was accepted on January 6, 1946.</p><p><br /></p><p>The dime was released to the public on January 30, 1946 which would have been Roosevelt&#039;s 64th birthday. Sinnock&#039;s design placed his initials (JS) at the base of Roosevelt&#039;s neck, on the coin&#039;s obverse. His reverse design elements of a torch, olive branch, and oak branch symbolized, respectively, liberty, peace, and victory.</p><p><br /></p><p>Controversy immediately ensued as strong anti-Communist sentiment in the United States led to the circulation of rumors that the &quot;JS&quot; were the initials of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. The Mint quickly issued a statement refuting this, and confirming that the initials were indeed Sinnock&#039;s.&nbsp; Another controversy surrounding Sinnock&#039;s design involves his image of Roosevelt. Soon after the coin&#039;s release, it was claimed that Sinnock borrowed his design of Roosevelt from an FDR bust created by noted African American sculptor Selma Burke a few years previous. Sinnock denied this, claiming that he simply utilized his earlier design on the Roosevelt medal.</p><p><br /></p><p>With the passage of the Coinage Act of 1965, the composition of the dime changed from 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper to a clad &quot;sandwich&quot; of copper between two layers of an alloy of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel. This composition was selected because it gave similar mass (now 2.27 grams instead of 2.5 grams) and electrical properties (important in vending machines)—and most importantly, because it contained no precious metal.</p><p><br /></p><p>Soon after the change of composition, silver dimes (as well as silver quarters and half dollars) began to disappear from circulation, as people receiving them in change hoarded them (see Gresham&#039;s law). Although now very rare in circulation, silver dimes are still occasionally encountered in change.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 2003, a group of Conservative Republicans in the United States Congress proposed removing Roosevelt&#039;s image from the dime, and replacing it with President Ronald Reagan. Legislation to this effect was introduced in November 2003 by Indiana Representative Mark Souder. Among the more notable opponents of the legislation was Nancy Reagan, who in December 2003 stated that, &quot;When our country chooses to honor a great president such as Franklin Roosevelt by placing his likeness on our currency, it would be wrong to remove him.&quot; After President Reagan&#039;s death in June 2004, the proposed legislation gained additional support. Souder, however, stated that he was not going to pursue the legislation any further.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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