Wikipedia:WikiProject Numismatics/newsletter/October 2019

Article of the Month
The Mercury dime is a ten-cent coin struck by the United States Mint from late 1916 to 1945. Designed by Adolph Weinman and also referred to as the Winged Liberty Head dime, it gained its common name because the obverse depiction of a young Liberty, identifiable by her winged Phrygian cap, was confused with the Roman god Mercury. Weinman is believed to have used Elsie Stevens, the wife of lawyer and poet Wallace Stevens, as a model. The coin's reverse depicts a fasces, symbolizing unity and strength, and an olive branch, signifying peace.

By 1916, the dime, quarter, and half dollar designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber had been struck for 25 years, and could be replaced by the Treasury, of which the Mint is a part, without Congressional authorization. Mint officials were under the misapprehension that the designs had to be changed, and held a competition among three sculptors, in which Barber, who had been in his position for 36 years, also took part. Weinman's designs for the dime and half dollar were selected.

Although the new coin's design was admired for its beauty, the Mint made modifications to it upon learning that vending machine manufacturers were having difficulties making the new dime work in their devices. The coin continued to be minted until 1945, when the Treasury ordered that a new design, featuring recently deceased president Franklin Roosevelt, take its place. The Mercury dime was minted again but in gold for its centenary in 2016.

Project

 * The WikiProject's first cross-wiki contest, focused on importing and uploading images of Unites States banknotes to Wikimedia Commons, will begin on November 1 and end on December 31. The goal of the contest will be to increase the number of high quality US banknote images available to content creators on all Wikimedia projects.  A notification will be sent to project members when the signup period starts.

Content
Good articles
 * Symbol support vote.svg Penny (British decimal coin)

Other

 * Old Spanish Trail half dollar (discussion) is under review for Featured Article status.
 * PLENTY (currency) (discussion) has been nominated for deletion.

Miscellaneous

 * The newsletter has been redesigned. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please leave them here.

Picture of the Day
September 7

September 16

Did You Know...

 * ... that in some Polish homes, an image of a Jew holding a coin (example pictured) hangs to the left of the doorway, and is customarily turned upside down on the Sabbath so that good fortune may fall upon the household? (September 3)


 * ... that Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan (dirhams pictured), the first governor of a unified Iraqi province, restarted the Muslim conquests in Khurasan? (September 16)


 * ... that a monumental euro-sign sculpture (pictured) is installed at the Willy-Brandt-Platz in Frankfurt, which was named in 1992 after the former chancellor? (September 30)

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