YN contest Mercury dime giveaway.

Very clever contest! I am enjoying the entrants' essays, and learning something as I read. Better reading than a text book!

Good luck to all who enter! Probably going to be difficult to pick a winner when the time comes.. yikes!

Lucy

 

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In 1892, the United States Treasury held a competition to redesign the dime. Very few designs were submitted and even less were considered to be appealing. Charles E. Barber’s Barber dime won. His coin didn’t win because people loved the look, but because it was the best of the worst designs.

Twenty-four years later, the Treasury once again held the competition. Barber, having made the last dime, submitted multiple designs. None of these designs won. Instead, Adolph Weinman, a prominent sculptor in America, won with his Winged Liberty Head or, more commonly called, Mercury dime. Also, Weinman designed the American Eagle and the Walking Liberty half dollar. When designing his dime, Weinman received help with engraving from George Morgan, the designer of the Morgan silver dollar.

On the obverse is a depiction of, who is believed to be, Elsie Kachel Stevens, wife of the well-known poet Wallace Stevens. In 1913, Weinman created a bust of Elsie, where she wore a cap, over her hair, with wings on it. These wings symbolized the liberty of thought.

On the reverse is a Roman fasces wrapped with olive branches. The fasces symbolizes authority and readiness for battle. While, the olive branches mean peacefulness, but when put together, they mean unity even in chaotic times. In 1926, The Numismatist had an article in it that quoted the Chicago Evening Post. The article was about a new idea that stated the Mercury dime had links to Mussolini. Mussolini picked the fasces to be a symbol of fascism, so therefore the Mercury dime must have been supporting him.

When the dime first came out, many people thought the initials (A.W.) were an error and in consequence took most all of the coins out circulation. The Mercury dime is considered to be a flawless coin in that the public has always loved the look and it never received any changes to the design. From 1936 to 1942, mints created proof Mercury dimes. These proofs became very popular, very fast. Unfortunately as a result of World War II, proofs were no longer made. Proofs started to be made again in the 1950’s.

On April 12, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. Shortly thereafter, John R. Sinnock’s Roosevelt dime was released to the public.

 

Contestents so far are:
zach24
Taylor101
WRSiegel
eric0911
bradarv90
:smile

 

It's a v not a y

 

The Mercury Dime

 

In 1916, America was in need of a change to its coinage. The current designs, used since 1892, featured the same obverse and had become very unpopular with the majority of the public. In 1890 a law had been passed that required a coin design to be in use for 25 years before it was eligible for replacement. In 1916, when the new fiscal year began, the change took place at its earliest oppurtunity.

A public competition was held. Applicants could submit their designs for the new coin and win a-kind of immortality with their design featured on the coin. Many people entered, even Charles E. Barber, who designed the previous Barber dime. Mint director Robert W. Wolley announced on March 3, 1916, that the winner of the contest was Adolph Alexander Weinman. After the announcement, Weinman worked with engraver George T. Morgan to finish the design.

The obverse of the new coin, nicknamed the Mercury Dime, featured Lady Liberty. On her head sat a winged cap, the word LIBERTY above with "In God We Trust" and the date below. The image was mistaken widely for that of Mercury, the greek god of trade, profit, and commerce. Also known as the messenger god, Mercury wore shoes with wings on them, symbolizing flight. On the dime, the wings on Libertys head symbolized liberty of thought. Not very different if you ask me, but in a good way.

The reverse of the coin, pictured a roman fasces. It was comprised of an axe tied to a bundle of rods. In Rome, fasces were carried by officials as symbol of authority. Above the words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" are engraved. The motto "E PLURIBUS UNUM," which translated from latin means "Out of many, one," is on the right of the coin.

Unfortunately, the awesome design did not last for ever. In 1946 Congress passed legislation that changed the Mercury Dimes to Roosevelt dimes in honor of Franklin Roosevelt. America has not seen such a fine coin since.

 

idk what happened to the post before my essay. Am I still qualified?

 

1916-D Merc

The mint was busy, minting new coins, like the Stand Liberty Quarter. They were also leaving behind old ones, like the Barber Dime. It was chaos back then! During this chaos, one mercury dime was becoming rare.

This circular metal disk I’m talking about is the 1916-D Mercury Dime. For a while, this coin was a real sought after coin. But, why is it so famous? You see, it was made in lower mintages, less than the 1909-S VDB Wheat Penny; another worldwide known rarity. It was also not hoarded a lot by people, unlike other coins in later years. Even dealers didn't hoard them, even if the coin had a low mintage. What caused the low mintage for this coin? It is unknown, but it was probably because it was real busy in the mint, they were minting the other new beautiful coins in the same year. But whatever the reason, it is now a coin everybody wants, even in low grades, almost 100 years later! People regretted they didn’t hoard them, since this is now a true rarity worth a lot of dough. So make sure you see how many coins they make each year, you might become rich!

 

All entries are still open till Sunday at three PDST then voting starts.

 

The year was 1916, and the world was very different from what we are use to today. Wanna know how different? Paris was bombed by German Zeppelins for the first time in World War I. Ya, that different! A lot of things changed that year, but none more importantly to me then the redsign of the American dime. The Barber dime, predecessor to the Mercury dime, had been in use since 1892, and had the same obverse as other American coinage at the time. In 1916 the American public was ready for a change to its, well, change. The US Mint held a public competiton for the redesign of the dime.

Many people had entered the contest, even Charles Barber, designer of the Barber dime. On March 3, 1916, history was made when mint director Robert Wolley announced the winner of the contest. The winner was Adolph Weinmen. To help with the design, Adolph received help finishing the design by none other then George Morgan, designer of the Morgan dollar.

The Mercury dime was released that year, with over 32 million minted. With the coins first appearence, many people confused the obverse image with Mercury, the greek messenger god. It was actually an image of Lady Liberty, sporting a winged cap. That is where the Mercury dime got its nickname. Its actually called the Winged Liberty dime. People obviously liked the name Mercury dime more, as it has stuck for 95 years.

People were curious as to who Mr. Weinmen had used as a model for the beautiful coin. It was widely believed that Elsie Katchel Stevens, the wife of famed poet Wallace Stevens, was the model. She and her husband were tenants of an apartment owned by Weinmen. In 1913, Weinmen had prepared a bust of Mrs. Stevens, with her hair pinned up under a cap. This is believed to be where the design for the Mercury dime came from.

On the obverse of the coin, Lady Liberty is featured with her winged hat. The wings represent liberty of thought. The date is below and to the right of Lady Liberty. A little further up and to the right of the date is the initials of the designer, which people believed to be an error when the coin first came out. The coin was horded early on for this reason. The reverse of the coin pictured a roman fasces. The fasces was used in ancient Rome by officials as a symbol of power. The words "E PLURIBUS UNUM" is to the right. When this is translated from latin it reads, "Out of many, one."

The Mercury dime and others were perfect symbols of America at the time. We were, and still are a powerful nation, one with rich history. Our coins were a symbol of our power. One easy way to educate one about our history is through coins. A little coin research can give one more knowledge then you would think. Part of our history lives in these coins, one being the Mercury dime.


EDIT: I was reading through and noticed I mispelled a word wrong so I corrected it. I hope that doesnt mean I'm disqualified

 

That took me two hours to look up all my facts and type it out! Good luck to everyone!

 

Must say these are fun to read...would be fun to do other contests with other series.

 

Mine sucked! Mine is not a fun read!

 

Nah, they each have their own special merit

 

Who won?

 

I think he said he's gonna open a poll at 3pm his time. It's only 12:40 pm his time.....

 

oh...

 

That is what I have decided as you guys have done such a good job I don't think it should be just me deciding still have about a hour and a half to go. Then I will close it and add a poll and let all members vote for three days I will hold off voting in case there is a tie as them my vote can be the tie breaker.

 

Great Lindedad, thank you for a wonderful contest....Even if I dont win it has been a joy to be able to participate, as well as view some of my fellow YNs writing styles..... Thank you.

 

One of the reasons why I started collecting coins is because I realized what a dime from 1928 would mean to someone and how important it was to them. In the 1930s, a loaf of bread cost 10 cents, which meant that 10 cents was all that came between someone going to bed with a full stomach than someone going to bed hungry. In addition, at that, time minimum wage was 25 cents for an hour (and you were lucky to get a good job in the depression that paid that much). This just shows what pocket change today meant to someone in the 1930's.