Time To Retire The Roosevelt Dime?

The Roosevelt dime is probably my second-favourite American coin design, behind the Native American dollar series. It's well laid-out and appropriately symbolic. The Lincoln Memorial is just boring (the shield is honestly an improvement), Monticello is an ugly building seen from a distance, it's a good thing the boring Washington eagle was last seen in 1998, and the Kennedy half is a solid average. The eagle on the SBA and Eisenhower, though, is pretty cool.




This may be a nice fantasy, but there's a nice fasces smack in the middle of the tails side (no wonder it went out of fashion in 1945), and resurrecting old coin designs is just a real step backwards.

I'm afraid that you have hit the nail on the head when you said that Congress would probably pick a political figure to honor. However, I'm equally dubious that the mint would be able to do a better job with layout and composition once the political hack is confirmed.

I really can't think of any political figure who would be a better inspiration for the dime than (so help me) Franklin Roosevelt. At least he was a fighter and a leader.

Truman was poor and honest, Eisenhower was a fighter but was honored already with a coin design. Kennedy already honored. Johnson (all the way with LBJ}? Nixon ? Ford - compromise. Carter - Attacked by the rabbit? Reagan - Trust but verify and took down a wall? Every other former president is still alive and is unable to receive the honor.

I know...............Bob Hope or George Jessel.

Anyone else with an opinion of who should be on the dime.

There is also the millionaire John D. Rockefeller who handed out dimes as tips during the depression. He was a big follower of the dimes.

Jimbucks we also could honor that great find of P. T. Barnum and honor Colonel Tom Thumb.

That would be Madison.

As for the design, I'm against the depiction of real people (living or dead) on American coinage. It's too controversial, even though most people think FDR was a good president, not everyone does. The far-right, conservative, laissez-faire capitalists criticize Roosevelt for implementing what they believe are communist policies. The socialist far-left believe the New Deal could have gone much farther. Even moderate centrists might think that FDR was just an okay president, and not one worthy of depiction on a coin.

Also, to me it seems like putting real people on coins is just short of worship. It makes the people depicted larger than life, a hero, incapable of wrong. Take Columbus Day for example. Columbus committed horrible atrocities, yet there is still a national holiday in his honor. I'm not downplaying the significance of the Columbus expidition(s), but for the most part America seems to ignore the bad and remember only the good.

This country wasn't founded to focus on politicians, the Founding Fathers viewed public office as a temporary service performed by ordinary citizens. Coins with dead presidents on them make them look like royalty. We can all agree on freedom, so the personification of Liberty seems appropriate for money. Although I doubt the Mint will go back to this.

The one founding father who's gotten short shrift on our coinage and currency is John Adams, so that'd be where my vote would go. James Madison would be entirely acceptable, though, and Theodore Roosevelt might be another candidate.

One item not mentioned in this thread is why FDR replaced the Mercury dime. In modern times we all know FDR suffered from Polio. The March of Dimes was founded by the late president to combat this disease. The name "March of Dimes" was coined in the late 1930s by vaudeville star Eddie Cantor as a play on the old newsreel series "The March of Time". Up through the 1960's the foundation had an annual fundraising event that requested each child to donate a dime. For this, FDR was honored by having his mug placed on the obverse of the dime.

I do agree it is time to overhaul the dime completely.

Hey Ocala = why does that image you have on the dime look like Arthur Godfrey?