Design For Change

By  Efren Evans

Rings are considered as a reflection of commitment and true love. Rings are liked both by men and women. Both loved to wear rings similar to other accessories on some specific events and even daily. There are rings available in different styles and designs. It was considered that rings are only worn on engagement and wedding but now both men and women preferred to wear rings of different styles on all occasions and love to offer rings to their loved ones as a symbol of their liking, deep love and affection for other.

It was once thought that men prefer to wear only simple bands of silver, gold or platinum. But nowadays men prefer to wear rings of different and unique styles. One major reason of this change is the jewelry designers who have enabled the men to wear unique rings because of the variety of stylish and cool designs. Although plain bands are still popular among men but some prefer to have stones embedded in these simple rings. A convenient option for most of the men is plain gold band, but there are elegant rings available for men with unique designs. Unique rings with diamonds, thick bands and stones are mostly liked by a number of men.

Many men liked to wear rings of tungsten, palladium and titanium that were usually worn for change as they usually want to make their special moments so unique. A unique design of ring can be made by combining two or more different metal bands so that a thick but single band can be made. Nowadays other than yellow gold there are other types of gold including rose gold, green gold and white gold. You can have an exquisite design by combining different metals to make an unique thick band for men’s rings.

You can also design rings for your male partners on your own having unique designs. Creating design yourself will add more meaning to the ring as your love is also included in its designing. Designing the ring by yourself helps you to take care of the preferences of your loved one. Rings with stones that are round shaped are usually avoided for men’s rings. It is preferred to select stones with triangular or squared cuts that add a unique look to the ring. You can also add diamond to the men’s rings but usually diamonds are considered favorite for ladies so you can have small diamond that look really great in men’s rings. You can also use black diamond, turquoise or hematite, etc. that is also well-appreciated by men. While selecting or designing rings for men you should always go for the likes and taste of your partner.

It is better to select those rings for your male partner that exhibit unique designs and that appropriate with his personality and look. The rings that are worn by men actually depict their inner self so it is preferable to have such a ring that has unique and extra ordinary design.

Quick Recap:

Give careful consideration while selecting rings for women because they are precious, symbol of your love and affection towards your special someone in your life. Nowadays there is a growing demand of rings for men too.
Because men too want to look good and smart.

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By  Keith Scott

The year was 1915 and there was a movement afoot to change the remainder of American coinage. With the changes to the $10 eagle, $20 double eagle, the cent and nickel, it was now time for changes to the dime, quarter and half dollar. Under 1890 law, changes could not be made to a coin design without approval from congress more frequently than every 25 years. The Barber coinage (dime, quarter and half dollar) was to reach that mark in 1916 and the mint wasted no time in making the changes, in fact starting the process before 1916.

In 1915, US Mint Director Robert W. Woolley offered the opportunity to three noted sculptors, Adolph A Weinman, Albin Polasek and Herman A. MacNeil to prepare designs for three silver coins. Outside artists, not chief engraver Charles Barber, supplied designs for the previous six changes and Woolley felt this was a great option. By 1916, Barber was 75 years old but had a track record of being hostile to outside artists designing coins he thought he should be designing. With three new designs, all replacing coins Barber himself had designed, it could have gotten unpleasant. The records suggest Barber was on his best behavior. In this case it seems he just stepped aside and let his assistant George T. Morgan, who had designed the Morgan dollar, do all the work. Maybe Barber finally just gave up or was too old too fight anymore or just recognized the beauty in the designs. Barber died in February 1917 and was replaced by Morgan.

It is assumed that Woolley intended to award a different coin to each person. It may not have been planned this way, but Weinman ended up getting two of his designs as the winning designs. One being what would become known as the Walking Liberty Half and the Mercury Dime. MacNeil won the design for the quarter with Polasek getting shut out.

Adolph A. Weinman was born in Germany and came to the US at the age of 10 in 1880. He was a student of well known sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Saint-Gaudens is also credited with some truly outstanding coin designs. By 1915 when the design process began, Weinman was widely celebrated as one of the nation’s best sculptors.

The design of the Mercury dime is that of a “Winged Liberty” and is based on a bust that Weinman did in 1913 of Elsie Kachel Stevens, wife of well-known poet Wallace Stevens, who happened to be tenants of a New York City apartment building owned by Weinman. The winged cap was to symbolize freedom of thought. The reverse of the coin depicts the fasces, an ancient symbol of authority, with a battle-ax at the top to represent preparedness and an olive branch beside it to signify love and peace and authority.

Production and release of the new dimes was delayed until later in the year of 1916 as the dies were not quite ready. The Philadelphia and San Francisco mint produced Barber dimes much of 1916 to meet demand while Denver ceased producing Barber dimes in 1914. Once the dies were complete, production began with both Philadelphia and San Francisco cranking out millions of dimes. Denver though produced a mere 264,000 making the 1916-D an instant rarity.

Shortly after the dime began circulating, many people began calling it a “Mercury dime” due to the wings on the cap. Mercury is the Roman god of trade, property and wealth as well as messenger to the other gods. The hat, called a Petasus, is similar to that worn my messengers during the time when Mercury was worshipped. Mercury gained his speed from his wings. Although not the original and intended name for the new time, the term Mercury stuck and that is what it is known as today.
The Mercury dime served Americans through two world wars ending its run in 1945. With the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945, there was a strong movement to honor the president and in 1946 the Roosevelt dime began production and is still used today.

Collectibility

General

The Mercury dime is a wonderful coin for both experienced and beginning collectors and is the most popular collected series in its denomination. A complete set including all keys can be had for under $1500.00 but the keys will be in very bad condition. A nicer set with all coins graded at least G4 including keys can cost upwards of $2000.00 or more. If you want to establish a year collection, you can avoid the big cost of the 1916-D but you still will need to shell out $50 or more for a 1921 dated dime. Both mints, P or D (San Francisco did not produce any) are considered keys. All other dates should be easily obtained. Many people collect what is called a short set consisting of all mints and years from 1934 to 1945 or 1941 to 1945. A short set of BU specimens from 1941 is 1945 is quite attractive.

Taking the three keys (discussed in a bit) out of the equation, all dates and mints can be had for under $10.00 in G4 condition with the majority of them under $3.00. Most coins after 1940 can be had for under $1.00 in pretty decent grades. As with many coins of the times, Philadelphia was the main producer of coins while Denver and San Francisco were generally much lower than Philadelphia. For the entire series, Philadelphia produced 65.9% of all dimes, Denver produced 17.8% of all dimes while San Francisco produced 16.3%, clearly making mint marked dimes a little tougher to get.
Production totals exceed 50 million on 6 times prior to 1940 but never going over 67 million (1939). This totals far exceeded production of the Barber dime but pail in comparison to the later years of the Mercury dime. In 1941 production totals skyrocketed with Philadelphia producing 175 million dimes. For the last four years of production, totals never fell below 159 million. A total of 2.6 billion dimes were produced with over half, 56% being produced during the last 5 years with the last four coinciding with WWII. An amazing statistic considering the Mercury dime was in production for 30 years. Of course many of those years were during the depression where coin production was low for all denominations.
When grading Mercury dimes, the grading criteria changes somewhat in Mint State coins. Coins what are fully struck have what is called Full Split Bands (FSB). This is in reference to the fasces where there are clear and fully defined horizontal bands with separation between them. Mint State coins with this definition will command premiums over their counterparts without this designation.

Key/Semi Key Dates

Clearly, from a non-variety perspective, the 1916-D is the toughest and most expensive coin to obtain. Although not the rarest, is perhaps the most famous dime in U.S history. Typically, first year issues are heavily hoarded and collected by the public which typically preserves many coins. Not so with the 1916-d as its rarity initially went unnoticed. With millions of coins coming from Philadelphia and San Francisco, the public had not noticed that very few had the Denver mint mark. This is easily determined by the fact that so many 1916-D dimes are available in such low grades as so many of them circulated for more than 30 years. Another clear example is the stunning amount of 1916-D dimes discovered in the “New York Subway Hoard”. The collectors of this hoard did not begin collecting until the 1940′s. More than 25 years after the release of the 1916-D yet 251 examples of this special coin were in the hoard.

Coins in the lowest grade of FA2 or G3 will cost upwards of $500.00 and the prices only go up from there. A VG8 is typically priced at $1300.00. While this coin is indeed pricey, it is readily available from many dealers.

The second key of the series is the 1921-D followed closely by the 1921-P. Both of these coins had mintages of just over 1 million. Both of these coins will cost over $50 for a G/VG grade.
From here, the cost of individual coins drops dramatically as the next semi-keys are 1926-S and 1931-D. Both of these can be had for under $10.00 in low grades.

A note about low grades: While you can obtain these rarities in low grades, eye appeal is NOT their strong point. Coins in AG-G condition typically show the date/partial date and mint. It is generally tough to make out details in the coins as they are well worn. I quote prices in G4 as to give you an idea of what minimum prices are for keys and semi-keys. Prime examples in the coins noted above can run into the 10′s of thousands of dollars.

While the 1945-P coin is readily available in all grades, FSB specimens are extremely rare. Many common dates of the 1940′s have dozens of coins graded in the MS-67 range while the 1945-P currently has only 3 certified PCGS coins.

Errors

Perhaps the best know error in the Mercury series is the 1942/1 overdate. These were produced at both Denver and Philadelphia with the Philadelphia variety having popularity near the 1916-D. In the lowest grades these coins will cost over $500.00 and will be hard to distinguish the error. It would be suggested to purchase these through a well known dealer and/or buying only certified coins of this error.

The other well known variety occurred in 1945 and that was a change in the size of the mint mark on San Francisco coins. Called “Micro S”, many 1945 dated coins have a smaller “S” mint mark and sell for a slight premium over regular “S” coins.

Proofs

Proof Mercury dimes are quite beautiful. They were only produced for seven years, from 1936 to 1942. A complete set in PR-65 condition would cost around $5000.00

Vital Statistics Summary

Key Coin Info

Designed by: Adolph A. Weinman

Issue dates: 1916-1945

Composition: 0.900 part silver, 0.100 part copper

Diameter: 17.9 mm

Weight: 38.58 grains

Edge: Reeded

Business strike mintage: 2,677,153,880

Proof mintage: 78,648

Proof mintage: 17,353

Keith Scott has been a collector for over 30 years and owns a small internet-based coin store at http://www.mountainviewcoins.com

Visit his website, http://www.mountainviewcoins.com/Mercury_Dimes.php for a history of US coins, metal market updates and news about your favorite coins.

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By  Mitch Green

So what’s so special about the dragonfly anyway? And what is it about dragonfly tattoo designs that makes so many people run out and get them?

For one, the dragonfly is an icon of the realm of fantasy. And dragonfly tattoo designs might conjure up images of fairies and wizards, dragons and their slayers. The tattoo itself may or may not include these elements, and looks sophisticated on a slender ankle. People may get them on their shadows and backs as well, and you are most likely to find dragonfly tattoo designs on a female.

Dragonflies are flitting up everywhere in a variety of colors such as blue, green, violet, pink, silver or gold. While they began as a passing fad, dragonfly tattoo designs are now here to stay. And they are appearing everywhere, on all parts of the body.

To learn more about why dragonfly tattoo designs are so popular, you want to look at an actual dragonfly to find our more about its significance. Though at first it may just look like a cute piece of parlor flash, the dragonfly is an important symbol of change, though not as well regarded as its cousin the butterfly.

The dragonfly begins as an egg that is laid in water. At this stage, it still isn’t a dragonfly, but is known as a nymph. A nymph is a popular character in the fantasy world, so you can see the connection between that world and dragonfly tattoo designs. As a nymph, the dragonfly tends to be an ugly creature with a large jaw to find food and small wings, as they don’t need them yet.

Dragonflies may stay in the nymph stage for up to three years. When the process is over, the nymph climbs out of the water and the change begins. During this time, which seems very painful, the nymph’s entire skin splits down the middle and the new dragonfly emerges. After a couple of days the beautiful colors that dragonflies are known for emerge. So, as you can see, dragonfly tattoo designs can also be a symbol for change.

So if you are looking for a pretty tattoo that symbolizes change, wisdom, and other associations, check out the dragonfly. And even though dragonfly tattoo designs were popularized by females, they can be sported by men too. Their beautiful bodies and fluttering wings can inspire your creativity or symbolize your spiritual struggle to become a whole person. Don’t limit yourself to a design because it’s too popular or “girly.” Plenty of men wear dragonfly tattoos, and its simple design can manifest itself in any color, on any part of your body. Unlimit yourself.

Check out Mitch Green’s new site for more killer tattoo design ideas [http://checkmytat.com].

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