The Mercury Dime A Coin with a "Split" Personality Features In Varun Parekh's Coin Collection |
by Varun Parekh
(This originally appeared in The Shinplaster, March 1994. Published by the Livingston County Coin Club, P. O. Box 2020, Howell, Michigan 48844, USA.)
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The designer was Adolph A. Weinman, who also did the Walking Liberty Half. The similarity is style is easy to see. Both coins, reflect a 20th century neo-classicism, a lighter line a narrower proportion, more in touch with modern times.
The obverse, of course, shows Liberty, as did all American coins at one time. Compare this Liberty to the fat-faced Roman lady on the Morgan Dollar and you will see how our views of beauty changed over the span of a single generation. This an active Liberty thinner and younger. She wears a Phrygian cap, the Roman attribute of a freed slave. The wings on her cap represent freedom of thought. It is from the winged cap that we get the image of "Mercury". The designer's initials also appear on the obverse, between the "Y" and the date, behind the neck of Liberty.
The reverse depicts the Roman fasces, a bundle of rods, the center rod being an ax. Breen's Encyclopedia goes into detail on the subject of the fasces. As a symbol of state authority, the facses offers a choice: "by the rod or by the ax". The condemned was either beaten to death with the rods or else allowed the mercy of the ax.
There is a curious split personality to a coin that celebrates Freedom of Thought on one side and the absolute power of the state on the other.
The coin saw America through some rough times. During the Depression, it was the only new silver mintage in 1931 and 1932. During WWII, it was produced in astounding quantities of 250 million in 1941, 42, 43 and 45, and an astronomical third of a billion in 1944. In fact, the total mintage was just under 2.7 billion, over half (1.5 billion) of which were issued from 1941 to 1945. As a result, of this volume, strikes are often poor.
The toughest detail for the mint was the dual band across the middle of the fasces. The pristine design shows two ribbons tying the axes. This detail is usually lost in most strikes. FSB is the collector's shorthand for "full split band." Most common dates in BU go for $5 to $20 (MS60 to MS65) but "FSB" earns the coin about another $10. The other bands, the diagonals are also not always sharp, even in a coin which is otherwise a strong Uncirculated and shows mint luster. This is the other split personality. Seldom is a coin with mint luster lacking in details. Only silver dollars are graded as strictly as the Mercury Dime.
Varun Parekh
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