Sciences and Arts
The Curious Case of a Roman God on a U.S. Coin
Coins capture how the nation that made them wants to present itself to other nations and its own people. In this way, they provide unique insights. Because the United States has evolved tremendously over its 250-year history, it is not surprising that its coinage has evolved with it. This essay explores a remarkable episode in this evolution by focusing on the obverses of coins introduced between 1907 and 1916, ending with one of the most curious of all U.S. coins: the Mercury dime of 1916-1945.
Since the first United States coins were minted in 1792, the country’s coinage has gone through three main representational stages, which overlapped with each other in time. The first stage focused on representing American aspirations by depicting a woman to represent liberty; this episode lasted 115 years. The second, largely built on the Lady Liberty theme but with some interesting exceptions, began in 1907 and ended in 1948. The third stage emphasized profiles of U.S. presidents on coins, beginning in 1909 and continuing today. Of these, the second stage was by far the most creative, and is the focus of this essay; it was triggered by one of the U.S.’s most energetic presidents, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).
[To read the full article, please download the PDF below–coming soon!]