Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

Description:
The early part of the 20th century was a time of great creativity in the design of U.S. coinage. August Saint-Gaudens’ double eagle was introduced in 1907, along with his Indian Head eagle. Victor D. Brenner’s Lincoln cent, commemorating in 1909 the centennial of the President’s birth, broke new ground- it was the first use of a presidential portrait on a circulating coin. A few years later, in 1913, James Earl Fraser’s Indian Head, or Buffalo, nickel was introduced, followed shortly thereafter in 1916 by Adolf A. Weinman’s Winged Liberty Head (Mercury) dime and Liberty Walking half dollar and Hermon A. MacNeil’s Standing Liberty quarter. In the same time period, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition produced several silver and gold commemoratives, including the Charles E. Barber/ George T. Morgan allegorical quarter eagle (one of Barber’s most creative works), and Robert Aitken’s equally symbolic round and octagonal fifty dollar gold pieces. Following the acclaim received for Saint-Gaudens’ stunning efforts on the ten and twenty dollar gold pieces, President Theodore Roosevelt turned his attention to the other two gold denominations, the quarter eagle and the half eagle (production of one dollar and three dollar gold coins ended in 1889).

The Liberty Head half eagle had been minted since 1839. Saint-Gaudens died in 1907, and though he had done some work for the smaller denomination gold coins, the designs for the two remained unfinished. Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, a physician and art collector from Boston, had admired Egyptian reliefs displayed in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. A close friend of President Roosevelt, Bigelow promoted the idea of using a sunken design on American coins, and Roosevelt agreed. Bigelow apparently contacted and persuaded a fellow Bostonian and former student of Saint-Gaudens, sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt, to create designs for the gold coins. Pratt used the same portrait on both the quarter eagle and the half eagle, a realistic image of a native American chief. The reverse displayed a bold standing eagle, a virtual copy of and perhaps tribute to the design Saint-Gaudens had used both on a Roosevelt inaugural medal and the Indian Head eagle. The use of an Indian on the coin followed the appearance of G.F.C. Smillie’s portrait of a Sioux Chief on the 1899 $5 silver certificate, but the imagery may also have been recognition of Roosevelt’s frontier heritage.

Not everyone approved of the designs, however, and Philadelphia coin dealer Samuel H. Chapman was one of the most vigorous in opposition. The incuse design, with devices and legends below the fields of the coin, promised to reduce wear on the features, but some thought the recessed areas would collect dirt and thus become a disease source. Others found fault with both the portrait and the eagle, though Mint Engraver Charles E. Barber, ever conscious of the technical necessities of coin production, had modified Pratt’s original eagle design. Claims that the coins could be easily counterfeited or wouldn’t stack properly (the latter an odd comment given the fact that the coins were rimless and had no design high points above the flat field) did not sway the President, and the new design was implemented. The Indian Head half eagle was minted yearly though 1916, after which production stopped, and then again in 1929, after which production permanently stopped. Though the mintage of half eagles in 1929 was generous, apparently most of that year’s coins were melted following President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 6102 of April 5, 1933, which effectively ended the legal tender status, thus circulation, of gold coins in this country.

The obverse is dominated by a left-facing somewhat determined portrait of a native American chief wearing a full-feathered war bonnet. LIBERTY is at the top, and the date at the bottom. Six five-point stars are placed to the left along the coin edge, and seven to the right. The designer’s initial, B.L.P. are located below the portrait and above the date. The reverse displays a standing eagle facing to the left, perched upon a bundle of arrows with an entwined olive branch. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is at the top and the denomination FIVE DOLLARS is at the bottom, the words of both phrases separated by centered dots. E PLURIBUS UNUM, each word on a separate line, is to the left of the eagle, IN GOD WE TRUST, also with each word on a separate line, is to the right. Indian Head half eagles were minted at Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and New Orleans; D, S, and O mintmarks are located just to the left of the arrowheads. All design features except the mintmarks are incuse, recessed below the field.

Tens of thousands business strike Indian Half Eagles have been certified, with significantly more for the series high mintage 1909 issue from Denver. Prices are modest for most dates for grades up to MS62, but for San Francisco issues only to AU55; those pieces are expensive to MS64, and very expensive to extremely expensive as Gem and finer. Other than the San Francisco Indian Head half eagles, other higher priced coins are the 1909-O (extremely expensive finer than MS62), 1911-D (very expensive finer than MS60), and 1929 (very expensive in all grades). A few hundred proof Indian Head half eagles have been certified, generally fewer than 100 coins per year. All proofs are expensive, increasing to very expensive finer than PR62, and extremely expensive finer than PR66.

Specifications:
Designer: Bella Lyon Pratt, reverse possibly influenced by the designs of Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Circulation Mintage: high 3,423,560 (1909-D), low 34,200 (1909-O)
Proof Mintage: high 250 (1910), low 75 (1915; none in 1916 or 1929)
Denomination: $5.00
Diameter: 21.6 mm, reeded edge.
Metal Content: 90% gold, 10% copper
Weight: 8.36 grams
Varieties: Very few known including Weak S mintmarks on the New Orleans and most San Francisco issues; and other minor die variations.

Additional Resources:
CoinFacts: www.coinfacts.com
Coin Encyclopedia: www.ngccoin.com
Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins 1795-1933, Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth, Whitman Publishing.
Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint: 1839-1909. Douglas Winter. Zyrus Press
The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins. R.S Yeoman (author), Kenneth Bressett (editor). Whitman Publishing.
A Guide Book of United States Type Coins. Q. David Bowers. Whitman Publishing.
United States Coinage: A Study by Type. Ron Guth and Jeff Garrett. Whitman Publishing.
The Experts Guide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins. Q. David Bowers. Whitman Publishing.
The U.S. Mint and Coinage. Don Taxay. Arco Publishing
Walter Breen’s Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins. Walter Breen. Doubleday.

Last Updated : 07/28/2009

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

Description:
The Mint Act of 1890 allowed the design of a coin to be changed every 25 years. Thus, in 1916, there was interest in replacing Charles E. Barber’s designs for the dime, quarter, and half dollar. Mint Director Robert W. Woolley invited three renown sculptors outside the Mint to produce designs for the three denominations. Though perhaps intending that each coin would display the efforts of a different artist, Adolph A. Weinman, a former student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, completed two of the three designs, for the dime and the half dollar. Hermon A. MacNeil’s design was chosen for the quarter. The new designs were representative of the artistic vigor of the early 20th century that was displayed on U.S. coins, a group that along with Weinman’s dime included the Lincoln cent; the Indian Head (buffalo) nickel; Weinman’s Liberty Walking half dollar; the incuse Indian Head quarter eagle and half eagles, Saint-Gaudens’ Indian Head eagle and eponymous double eagle, and several commemorative issues such as the Panama-Pacific Exposition silver and gold pieces.

Modeled after Elsie Stevens, wife of poet Wallace Stevens and a tenant of a New York City apartment house owned by the sculptor, Weinman’s Liberty on the dime wears a Phrygian cap, a soft somewhat conical device that became known as a symbol of freedom. The cap is depicted supported by a pole on late 18th century U.S. Liberty Cap copper half cents and cents, and on the 19th century Liberty Seated silver coins. The cap also displays a small wing on the facing side. Together, the image represents freedom from bondage, specifically liberty of thought. However, the fact that this dime is almost universally known as the Mercury dime is an indication of the potential pitfalls of too clever symbolism. The Roman god Mercury (from the Greek god Hermes) was a god of trade and commerce, the messenger of the gods who traveled swiftly between tasks via the wings on his hat and shoes. Though Mercury’s hat was a hard, brimmed piece, and worn by a male god, those details were overwhelmed by the symbolic wing.

The symbolism of the reverse fasces was also dramatic, but one that for a time had an unintended association. Representing power and authority, the faces possibly dates to Etruscan times, and was adopted as a symbol of the Roman Republic. The bundle of rods is said to represent strength through unity (many rods much stronger than a single rod), with the axe denoting authority, particularly the power over life and death. Unfortunately, it was also a symbol used by Italian fascism in the 1930s and 1940s. That stigmatism was apparently short lived, unlike that of the swastika of Nazi Germany, and the fasces appears today on several symbols of U.S. government, including the seal of the U.S. Senate and on the frieze of the facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building. Weinman’s depiction, with the fasces wrapped in an olive branch, presented a “desire for peace but ready for war” message on the eve of America’s entry into WWI. Regardless of possible mixed messages, the design produced by Adolph Weinman is considered one of the best modern U.S. coin designs, particularly on such a small palette, and the dime remains a collector favorite.

On the obverse Liberty faces left, most of her hair covered by a soft cap with a soft peak folded toward the front. The cap has a small wing extending from the base upward to the back. The word LIBERTY, E and R partially covered by the top of the cap, encircles around slightly more than the top half of the coin just inside the flat rim. IN GOD WE TRUST, on two lines of two words each, and with centered dots separating the words on each line, is to the lower left. The date is at the lower right, mostly below the truncation of the neck. The designer’s initials AW, as a monogram, are also to the lower right, about halfway between the Y of LIBERTY and the date.

A fasces, axe pointed to the left occupies the center of the reverse, the bundle of rods bound by horizontal banding, at the top (three bands), in the middle (two bands), and at the bottom (two bands), with a single band diagonally across the bundle in the each open area between the horizontal bands. An olive branch with berries curves from the left front behind the bundle of rods to appear again at the top right. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the words separated by centered dots, is concentric to the flat rim around slightly more than the top half of the coin; ONE DIME, the words separated by the bottom of the fasces and the olive branch, completes the circle at the bottom. A five-point star separates ONE and UNITED on the left, and DIME and AMERICA on the right. Winged Liberty dimes were minted at Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco; D and S mintmarks are located to the left of the end of the olive branch, oriented in alignment with the curve of ONE and DIME.

Tens of thousands of business strike ‘Mercury’ dimes have been certified, including a few prooflike pieces, and more for the dates from the late 1930s forward and for 1916 examples. Many certified coins have the FB (Full Bands or Full Split Bands) designation, which refers to complete visible lines separating the individual horizontal bands of the fasces. Prices are modest for many dates through MS66, particularly from the early 1930s forward, though some are expensive as MS65 and finer for dates prior to the 1930s. More expensive pieces include 1916-D, very expensive finer than XF40; 1921 and 1921-D, expensive finer than MS63; 1926-S, expensive finer than MS63; 1942, 2 Over 1, expensive finer than XF40; and many of the FB examples, which for some issues are very expensive to extremely expensive finer than MS63, particularly for dimes minted prior to the early 1930s. Brilliant proof Winged Liberty dimes were minted from 1936 through 1942; a few scholars indentify matte or satin proof examples for 1916, while others do not. Prices for proofs are modest for most years through PR66 and PR67, but expensive finer. Proofs issues in 1936 are expensive finer than PR65; those from 1937 and 1938 are expensive finer than PR66. Cameo examples are expensive as PR65 and finer.

Specifications:
Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
Circulation Mintage: high 231,410,000 (1944), low 264,000 (1916-D; no circulation dimes were minted in 1922, 1932, and 1933)
Proof Mintage: high 22,329 (1942), low 4,130 (1936)
Denomination: Ten cents (10/100)
Diameter: 17.9 mm, reeded edge
Metal Content: 90% silver, 10% copper
Weight: 2.5 grams
Varieties: Several known including 1942 and 1942-D, 2 Over 1; 1945-S, Micro S; and other minor die variations.

Additional Resources:
CoinFacts: www.coinfacts.com
Coin Encyclopedia: www.ngccoin.com
The Complete Guide to Mercury Dimes. David W. Lange. DLRC Press; online at www.stellacoinnews.com
The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins. R.S Yeoman (author), Kenneth Bressett (editor). Whitman Publishing.
A Guide Book of United States Type Coins. Q. David Bowers. Whitman Publishing.
United States Coinage: A Study by Type. Ron Guth and Jeff Garrett. Whitman Publishing.
The Experts Guide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins. Q. David Bowers. Whitman Publishing.
Walter Breen’s Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins. Walter Breen. Doubleday.

Last Updated : 07/28/2009