Updated March 14, 2026, 1:18 p.m. ET
Now that coins featuring new, temporary designs to commemorate the United States’ 250th birthday have been in circulation for some time, some Americans are raising their eyebrows at one coin in particular: the dime.
The U.S. Mint said the new designs would be made for just one year, to mark the country’s semiquincentennial (250th anniversary). They include depictions of significant historical events and symbols since the nation’s founding in 1776. There’s a Mayflower Compact quarter, a Revolutionary War quarter, a Declaration of Independence quarter, a U.S. Constitution quarter and a Gettysburg Address quarter.
The dime, called the “Emerging Liberty Dime,” will temporarily replace the coin featuring former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Absent from the back of the coin is the olive branch representing peace, which did not go unnoticed by many social media users. Renewed attention came amid President Donald Trump‘s war against Iran.
“The designs on these historic coins depict the story of America’s journey toward a ‘more perfect union,’ and celebrate America’s defining ideals of liberty,” U.S. Mint Deputy Director Kristie McNally said in a statement when the coins were announced.
Here’s what we know about the dime design:
What does the new dime look like?
The temporary dime design features the face of Liberty on the front, and a variation of the eagle that appears in the Great Seal of the United States.
The front design features “a determined Liberty as the winds of revolution waft through her hair,” according to the U.S. Mint. “With steadfast resolve, she faces the tyranny of the British monarchy. Her liberty cap bears stars and stripes, at once a symbol of our burgeoning Nation and a reference to early American coinage.”
Usually in the seal, the eagle clutches an olive branch and arrows in its talons, but in the new dime the eagle holds just arrows and has an empty second claw.
The Roosevelt dime, which has been circulated since 1946, features his profile on the front and a torch, olive branch and oak branch on the back to represent liberty, peace and strength. The U.S. Mint will resume production of the Roosevelt dime in 2027.
Did Trump send a message by removing the olive branch?
The act to introduce commemorative coins for the 250th anniversary was passed by Congress and signed by Trump a week before he left office at the end of his first presidential term in January 2021.
But the specific designs for the now circulating dimes were reviewed and finalized in 2024, according to records of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which was established in 2003 to advise the treasury secretary on coin themes and designs. The front of the dime was designed by Esao Andrews, and the back with the eagle and arrows was designed by Eric David Custer, a medallic artist.
Potential designs for the dime were reviewed in July 2024 and the reverse design with the eagle and arrows was voted for and officially recommended in October, before Trump’s reelection, the records show.
Notably, the recommendations made by the committee for the semiquincentennial quarters did not come to fruition. Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent nixed the more diverse proposed quarters (which included the themes of the abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement and women’s suffrage, according to records from the committee’s meetings).
According to the U.S. Mint, the symbolism of the bird clutching arrows on the back of the dime is meant to represent “the American Revolution and the colonists’ fight for independence.”
Custer, a Pennsylvania native, told Spotlight PA that his design takes inspiration from the Great Seal’s eagle. It’s meant to symbolize the colonists before and during the American Revolution, he told the outlet. He left out the olive branch as a symbol that the colonists had not yet reached peace. The eagle’s open claw shows that they were waiting for it, he told Spotlight PA.
Trump’s influence on coins is being felt in other ways. The Treasury Department is planning to also unveil a $1 coin featuring the president’s face, breaking with tradition not to have coins depicting living presidents.
The history of the dime
The dime has been around since 1796, but it has come a long way since then. Once small silver coins, dimes have gone through several redesigns. Liberty appeared on dimes in various forms up until 1946, when the Roosevelt dime was produced. The Roosevelt dime will again be produced in 2027.
The Roosevelt dime design was decided shortly after the former president’s death in 1945.
“The dime was a logical choice for honoring Roosevelt because he supported the March of Dimes, a program that raised funds for research to find a cure for polio. He contracted polio when he was 39 years old,” the U.S. Mint said.
Since 1965, the dime hasn’t had any silver in it and is instead a copper-nickel clad.
