John R. Sinnock

John Ray Sinnock (* July 8, 1888, † May 14, 1947 in Raton, New Mexico) was an American engraver and the eighth Chief Engraver of the United States mint by 1925 until 1947.

History

Sinnock was the designer of the Roosevelt dime and Franklin half dollar, and other U.S. coins. His initials " JS " can be found on the Dime at the base of the Roosevelt bust. He modeled, but not designed, the Purple Heart and various other medals and commemorative coins.

Sinnock was trained at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. He won the A.W. Mifflin Award for study abroad. Sinnock had traveled far. His long -time confidante, was Margaret Campbell, who had inherited much of his art and his personal collection of materials related to the development of the Roosevelt Dime.

Ten years Sinnock was an art teacher at his alma mater and at Western Reserve University. In 1923 he was appointed Assistant Chief Engraver.

At the initial coining of the Roosevelt Dime 1946, emerged in the anti-communist climate in the U.S., a rumor that the letters " JS " are not the initials of John Sinnock, but stood for Joseph Stalin and were attached by a Soviet agent. This rumor was in the time of the Second Red Scare.