America's Favorite Coins

More coins! Further clean-of our deceased parents' home revealed more coins. There does not seem to be one set place for them to be stored, although that would not have been true when my father still had his eyesight, as he was a very organized individual. So, we're finding little things here-and-there.

My brother found a really cool set of "America's Favorite Coins" nicely mounted in a plastic display case. The set includes a Kennedy Half-Dollar, a Bicentennial quarter, a Winged Liberty Head Dime, a Buffalo Nickel, and an Indian Head Cent.


My brother has been graciously suggesting that I keep most of the loose coins we've found to add to my collection, so when he surprised me by saying that he wouldn't mind having this set if I didn't especially want it, I had to let him take it. So, this set will be going home with him. 😊

Details of the coins are as follows, copied from the display card:

🔸 40% Silver Kennedy Half Dollar 1965–1970. Designed by Gilroy Roberts and Frank Fasparro, this 40% silver coin pays tribute to John F. Kennedy with his inaugural medal portrait.

🔸 Bicentennial Quarter 1976 only. Designed by John Flanagan and Jack L Ahr, this coin features a Colonial drummer on the reverse.

🔸 Mercury Dime 1916–1945. Designed by Adolph A. Weinman, this coin shows Liberty wearing a cap representing freedom of thought, often mistaken for the Roman god, Mercury.

🔸 Buffalo Nickel 1913–1938. Designed by James Earle Fraser. The difficult-to-find 3-legged 1937 Denver Mint specimen is a collector's find.1909

🔸 Indian Head Cent 1859–1909. Designed by James B. Longacre and modeled after his daughter, Sarah, wearing an Indian headdress.


There were also two loose Winged Liberty Head dimes, called "Mercury Dimes" by some folk, as Lady Liberty with the winged Phyrgian cap resembles Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods in Roman lore.


The 1943 dime is in respectable condition (at least on the obverse), but the 1917 specimen is heavily worn on both sides from being in circulation for so long. The mass of a newly minted Mercury dime is 2.500 g ^[source] and these two show their wear at 2.43 g and 2.22 g, respectively, on my scale.