100 Years Ago: The New 1916 United States Coinage

“I am one of a hundred”

– The Adventure of the Illustrious Client (ILLU)

     

Last month, Scott Monty and Burt Wolder celebrated the 100th episode of their podcast, I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, with a 2 hour extravaganza. You really should listen to this episode and the time flies by very quickly.

Early in this episode, Scott Monty review events that are celebrating their centennial in 2016. One item that was skipped over was that 2016 marks 100 years since the Mercury Dime, Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar and the Walking Liberty Half Dollar were first released into circulation. We are certain that if Burt Wolder, the 47th Garrideb, had done this segment, these three coins would have gotten their proper recognition.

So, we here at TFG now have to pick up the slack…..

Until 1916, the three small circulating silver coins (dime, quarter and half) always had a common design. That all changed in 1916. For the dime, a design of a winged Liberty would grace the obverse and the reverse design was a fasces surrounded by an olive branch.  The coin would get it’s Mercury moniker from the winged Roman phrygian cap that Liberty was wearing and folks confused this with the Roman god Mercury.  For those that watch the State of the Union every January, take a look at what is on the wall on either side of the U.S. flag. You’ll see the fasces and olive branch. This coin was designed by Adolph A. Weinman, who designed the gold medal that William Gillette was awarded in 1931. You can read about that HERE. The Mercury Dime would continue to be struck through 1945. It would be replaced in 1946 with the Roosevelt Dime. Franklin D. Roosevelt was an honorary member of the Baker Street Irregulars at the time of his death.

Herman A. MacNeil was the designer of the Standing Liberty quarter that was introduced in 1916. Miss Liberty became much more modest the following year, when her bare breast would be covered with a chainmail vest. Over the years, the design of both sides  would be somewhat tweaked to prevent the date from wearing off. No Standing Liberty quarters were struck in 1931 and the Washington Quarter would be introduced in 1932, so this coin only circulated for 14 years.

Weinman also redesigned the half dollar in 1916 with his Walking Liberty design, one of the most beautiful designs to appear on a United States coin. The eagle design on the reverse is quite realistic. Over the years, there were issues in getting the design of Lady Liberty fully struck, so there were a few tweaks to the design over the years.  In 1947, this design would be replaced by the Franklin Half Dollar.

The United States Mint is bringing back all three of these designs in 2016, albeit in gold rather than silver. More information can be found at their website.

Now, let’s go back to the I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcasts.

In the 100th episode, they state that the 29th Garrideb, Bob Katz, has appeared on the most episodes with 4 appearances. They also play a clip of one of the three appearances by the 13th Garrideb, Peter E. Blau.

In reviewing the IHOSE archives, the following episodes feature our fellow Garridebs:

Episode 6 – An Interview with Peter E. Blau (the 13th Garrideb), part 1

Episode 7 – An interview with Peter E. Blau, part 2

Episode 50 – A Golden Passage, Bob Katz (the 29th Garrideb) was part of a panel interview

Episode 56 – Sherlock Peoria,  an interview with Brad Keefauver (the 41st Garrideb)

Episode 63 – Irregular Stain, Bob Katz was part of a panel interview

Episode 64 – Sherlock Holmes in Translation, an interview with Don Hobbs (the 62nd Garrideb)

Episode 76 – Out of the Abyss, Bob Katz was part of a panel interview

Episode 93 – Nerve and Knowledge, Bob Katz was part of a panel interview

Episode 94 – News and Nonsense, Bob Katz made a special appears to discuss the upcoming BSI conference in September 2016

Episode 98 – Europe and Sherlock Holmes, Steve Mason (the 19th Garrideb) took part in the contest Mental Exaltation

Of course, Burt Wolder (the 47th Garrideb) has been part of every episode. In addition, James C. O’Leary (the 28th Garrideb) and Bob Stek (the 43rd Garrideb) are irregular contributors to the IHOSE site.

We look forward to the next 100 episodes of the IHOSE podcasts!