Mercury Dime Collectors

Shatsi

Have you settled on a grade range for your collection of Merc's?

I have lots of doubles in the good to very Good range .

and some in the Fine to Very Fine .

I would be more than happy to get you started !!PM me if your interested!! I think you will be happy with the deal!!

The FSB are a seperate collection and I pick those up as the occasion arises so its slow,I think I have ten so far but I'm in no hurry, and now as you can see in the pics, I need another 35-P !!!

Rick

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Originally posted by Susanlynn9

This information is paraphrased from the Breen Enclyclopedia of US coins:

The Winged Liberty dime was designed by Adolph Weinman. Many people mistook the design of Lady Liberty with a winged cap as the Roman god Mercury. This is why it's often referred to as the Mercury dime.

The Roman fasces on the reverse is believed to be symbolic of the United States' entry into WWII. The design has an executioner's axe bound within a group a rods. This is commonly interpreted as "the power of life or death"; in practice, it means the power to kill or to make one's victim wish he were dead. In ancient Roman law, it meant the power to kill mercifully by a blade or mercilessly by the rods. It is felt that the symbolic message that Weinman was trying to express was something like, "The USA can instantly punish with any penalty up to and including death, therefore beware, enemies of liberty!".

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It's amazing how historical attitudes and priorities are reflected in abstract symbols on the money we are increasingly NOT carrying around. Wienman's dime, along with his Liberty Walking half, was first minted in 1916. Both coins along with the Standing Liberty quarter, also introduced in 1916, are seen to be reflections of a generally optimistic view, at least by Americans, toward the new century. All that changed in 1914 at the commencement of hostilities in Europe. Woodrow Wilson had been elected as a foe us U.S. involvement in the war. So, the U.S. didn't enter the war until 1917.

I have no idea what Weinman's politics were but the liberty design on the Merc obverse - helmetted and winged, along with the reverses of both the Merc and the Walker, are almost posters of American ambivalence toward entry into the war; consider the Eagle on the Walker crouched in a position ready to take immediate flight compared with his obverse showing liberty strolling into the new day for America, her stars and stripes written onto her billowing shawl.

So, not only was was history rattling around in people's pockets, it was literally being invented in Americans' collective conscience through constant contact with the subtle agressiveness that these designs represent. To me, that's what's so fine about U.S. coinage, especially before it featured portraits of real people: we expressed ourselves collectively in the designs on our money.

Bellaonline article on the Merc:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art31013.asp
Don

For a long time I have been thinking of starting a Mercury dime collecton. This thread may be what it takes to get me going.

I have several, including one in a frame, 1942 D, MS-63. The 1942 dime was purchased because 1942 is my birth year.

Guess I had better buy that Dansco Album, head to my safety deposit box, and get started!

ok, here's more pics..

1942

Image: 1942 merc top_bottom.jpg
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Originally posted by shatsi

ok, here's more pics..

1942

Image: 1942 merc top_bottom.jpg
31.73 KB

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Looks good to me! The 1943 looks good too. I think you've got yourself a couple of winners!

Look at what I found in circulation....

Image: 1938 S mercury.jpg
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