The Figure in the obverse side of the "Mercury Dime” is an image of the mythological goddess Liberty wearing a Phrygian cap not the Roman messenger god Mercury. This Winged Liberty Head dime designed by noted sculptor Adolph A. Weinman is considered to be one of the most beautiful US coin designs ever produced. The model for the figure is believed to be Elsie Kachel Stevens, wife of the noted poet Wallace Stevens. The fasces, which is a bundle of rods containing a protruding ax blade, a repeating icon through out American history, with olive branches was designed to suggest America’s readiness for war combined with her desire for peace.
Obverse: Figure of mythological goddess Liberty wearing Phrygian cap surrounded by the word Liberty
Reverse: A fasces, a bundle of rods containing a protruding ax blade, a common icon in American history, with olive branches