Who is on the U.S. dime? Who (or what) was on it before him?

Heidi W. writes: Who is on the U.S. dime? Who (or what) was on it before him?

The democratic tradition that began in the United States shunned idolization of people on its coinage. The aim was to break with the royalist tradition in European culture. It wasn’t until 1893 that this “rule” was broken by the establishment of commemorative coinage for the Columbian Exposition: the Isabella Quarter Dollar and the 1892 and 1893 Columbian Half Dollar. At least you had to be dead to get on a commemorative coin. That rule, at least, agreed with the founding fathers’ wish not to deify a living person.

And so, only allegorical symbols existed on U.S. coinage, beginning with the Fugio cent in 1787.

But in 1932, the Standing Liberty Quarter was replaced by a tribute to Washington’s 200th birthday. The public was enthusiastic. So enthusiastic that the quarter that was supposed to have been just a one year commemorative became the standard quarter design that we still use today!

With the tradition broken, it wasn’t hard to create a similar coin dedicated to the much beloved Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose image appeared on the dime in 1946 and continues to this day. Roosevelt’s portrait replaced the Winged Liberty design (affectionately called the “Mercury” dime) that was part of American life from 1916 to 1945.