Great Coin Stories: The Communist Dime
The communists have infiltrated U.S. Mint! That’s what much of the country thought when the Mint first introduced the Roosevelt dime in 1946. Although the coin clearly honored President Roosevelt, many citizens also felt that it secretly paid tribute to communist leader Joseph Stalin.
Roosevelt had just begun serving his 4th term as President when he died in Warm Springs, Georgia in 1945. He had served as President through most of the Great Depression and World War II. Many younger Americans had known no other President.
It was no surprise when the decision was made to honor President Roosevelt on a coin. That the dime was chosen was also no surprise as President Roosevelt had been a victim of polio and was a founder of the March of Dimes.
So what made the public think that a coin honoring President Roosevelt was really a secret tribute to communist leader Joseph Stalin? When released on what would have been Roosevelt’s 64th birthday, people quickly noticed a set of initials on the obverse of the new coin just below Roosevelt’s portrait. The initials were “JS.”
The rumor spread that the initials stood for Joseph Stalin and that communists had infiltrated our government. The U.S. Mint took this rumor seriously enough and responded by informing the public that the initials were in fact those of the coin’s designer, John Sinnock, and not those of communist dictator Joseph Stalin.
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