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2014 10C S SILVER - ROOSEVELT DIME - PF 70 - LIMITED EDITION SET - (BROWN LABEL)
The American public in 1945 was clamoring for some memorial to their fallen leader, whose passing had come just as he was about to enjoy a sweet victory after years of struggle and worry. As World War II was nearing its end in April of that year, Franklin Delano Roosevelt breathed his last, and the free world mourned. The nation's only four-term president died at 63, aged beyond his years by twin burdens of the greatest economic depression in the nation's history and the most devastating war of all time.
In a break with its 40-year tradition of enlisting outside artists in the design of new coins, the Mint assigned this task to Chief Engraver Sinnock. His initial models were submitted to the federal Commission of Fine Arts by Acting Mint Director Leland Howard on October 12, 1945. The Commission rejected them. Sinnock went back to his workshop to make the desired improvements. His small head of Roosevelt with large mottos was replaced by the now familiar, larger portrait with a miniscule IN GOD WE TRUST. As it fit the available space, LIBERTY remained in large letters but was moved to the left from its former position directly above the portrait. The date, and Sinnock's initials JS, were quite small and appeared below the truncation of Roosevelt's neck. The reverse featured an upright torch, symbolizing freedom, flanked by branches of olive and oak, respectively denoting peace and victory. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM was awkwardly spaced between these elements in a single line. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DIME were arranged in arcs around the periphery, separated from one another by ornamental dots. At the eleventh hour, these revised models were approved on January 8, 1946 by the Commission of Fine Arts and Treasury Secretary Fred Vinson.