History of the U.S. Dime

The symbolism which characterized the first United States dimes (originally spelled "dismes") was simple and traditional: a matronly maid representing Liberty on the front, and a proud eagle on the back. In 1798, two years after the dime's debut, the eagle appeared behind a shield and with wings outspread. Its successor was seated upon a bough and with the shield upon its breast (1809-1837). Following the Draped Bust and Capped Bust -names derived from the distinctive coiffure of the female figure occupying the obverse- Lady Liberty finally got a chance to sit down, albeit on a rock, with the 1837 advent of the aptly-named Seated Liberty dime. She remained partially surrounded by stars -befitting a woman of her station- but seated on her prodigious stone, and clad in a robe, she had a nubile, more youthful appearance. In her left hand she held a pole with a cap on the end, and her right hand rested on a shield which sported a LIBERY banner. Not until the Capped Bust dime of 1809 did the 10-cent piece bear any indication of its value.
1837 saw the disappearance of the eagle on the dime's reverse, and the noble bird has never returned. Both the Seated Liberty and the Barber dimes bore similar reverse designs, the words ONE DIME, encircled by a wreath. The former had UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; the latter did not.
Sadly, the lithesome Lady Liberty was replaced in 1892 by a rather androgynous bust of a woman with short hair, and crowned with a laurel wreath. The so-called Barber dime was named after its designer, Charles E. Barber, who was the Chief Engraver at the U.S. Mint from 1880 to 1917. In 1892 Barber also designed two other coins that bear his name: the quarter and the half-dollar. All three featured the same obverse design (Guth: 243).
Dimes continued the trend of earlier U.S. coins in that they featured symbolic and mythological figures rather than real people. Victor D. Brenner's 1909 Lincoln penny (the "wheaty)," was the first to buck this trend. The country's ten-cent piece followed suit in 1946 with the Roosevelt dime, honoring the late 32nd president, who had died the previous April. Roosevelt's support of the March of Dimes, a charity which worked to find a cure for polio, certainly influenced the decision to feature him on the new dime (U.S. Mint). Roosevelt's likeness replaced that of Mercury, the messenger of the ancient Greek gods, who had occupied the coin's obverse for nearly 30 years. Designed by the U.S. Mint's Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock, the Roosevelt dime depicted a torch flanked by an olive and an oak branch on the reverse, replacing the former fasces. The latter symbol had come to be associated with Italian dictator Mussolini following the Second World War, a fact with which designer Adolph Weinman could hardly have foreseen. After 1964 U.S. dimes, as well as quarters and half-dollars, were no longer minted of silver. This was due largely to the steady surge in silver prices since the end of World War II (Massey: 235).

© December 14, 2011 by Allan M. Heller

Photo caption: A 1936 Mercury dime. Photo credit: Bobby131313 at en.wikipedia. Ownership: Public domain.
Works cited

Massey, J. Earl. America's Money: the story of our coins & currency. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1968. Print.
Guth, Ron. Coin Collecting For Dummies©. New York: Wiley Publishing Inc., 2001. Print.
United States Mint. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
"Roosevelt Franklin Delano." Webster's New World Encyclopedia™. 1992. Print.
Collectors Universe, Inc. "United States Ten Cents or Dime (1796-Date). CoinFacts.com. 2008. Web. 14 Dec. 2011.