It's the 1910s in a booming and tumultuous United States. The reigning President, Woodrow Wilson, orders a contest to redesign the dime to boost morale amidst two international wars. The winner is a young German immigrant and sculptor, Adolph A. Weinman.
In 1916, what would become known as the Mercury Dime was minted and, until 1945, circulated widely. Silver was removed from coin production in 1965 as global silver prices rose, leading to massive hoarding and a subsequent crash in U.S. currency circulation. As newer copper-nickel coins were cast more cheaply and efficiently, collectors hoarded their old coins like leprechauns hiding rainbows.
Weinman was an immigrant, and while little is known about his life in Germany, he started anew at 14, moving to the U.S. Here, he took night classes in New York, studying architectural sculpture with some of the greats.
Like many young artists of the Art Nouveau era, he was fascinated by ancient lore, fantastical myth, and all the symbolism associated with it. Featuring the distinct winged cap of the Roman god Mercury, this coin has been associated with freedom of thought and empowered ideas. For me, there is joy in the symbolism that perhaps the designer and other men of his era weren't necessarily considering, for the subject of this particular coin was indeed in a courageous battle for freedom.
The face in profile is not that of the god Mercury himself. It is, in fact, that of a woman—a woman who represents, in hindsight, the struggle for the right to vote in 1920. These pendants remind me that history is rarely what we think it is and that symbolism, my friends, can be everywhere if you look just right.
