Dimes Worth Money

Which Dimes Are Worth Money? The Short Answer

Dimes worth money include, in order of how often you will encounter them: silver dimes dated 1964 and earlier, key dates and semi-key dates of the Barber and Mercury series, Mercury dimes with Full Split Bands, error and variety coins such as overdates and missing mint marks, and a handful of modern Roosevelt dimes that were made in small numbers or with unusual mistakes. Everything else, which means the vast majority of clad Roosevelt dimes from 1965 to today, is worth face value.

That sorting rule gives you a simple checklist to work from. First, check the date. Anything dated 1964 or earlier is silver and carries melt value. Second, look at the mint mark and date combination for the key issues named in this guide. Third, for any dime dated 1965 or later, look for something unusual: a missing mint mark, a coin that looks like it was struck on the wrong metal, or an exceptionally sharp, uncirculated example. Those are the clad dimes that can be worth more than ten cents.

Value for a collector dime rests on five factors: silver content, date and mint mark scarcity, errors and varieties, full bands designation and overall grade, and third-party certification. A common-date silver dime in worn condition is a melt-value coin. The same design in a scarce date, or in a high Mint State grade with sharp bands, can bring a significant premium over melt. We explain each factor in the sections below.

One point about expectations is worth making early. Rare dimes are rare. Most inherited collections and jars of change contain a good number of silver dimes worth their melt value and perhaps a few coins of collector interest. Finding something extraordinary is uncommon, but it happens, and a quick look by an experienced numismatist is the surest way to find out what you have.

Silver Dimes: Every Dime Dated 1964 or Earlier

Every silver dime dated 1964 or earlier is worth at least its silver melt value. These coins were struck from an alloy of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, and each one weighs 2.50 grams. That composition covers the Barber dimes, the Mercury dimes and the Roosevelt dimes dated from 1946 through 1964. Even a heavily worn, nearly smooth example is a silver coin and is valued by its metal content when it has no collector premium.

The melt value of a dime is easy to calculate. The standard junk silver convention is that one dime contains 0.0715 troy ounces of silver, so the melt value of one dime equals 0.0715 multiplied by the current silver spot price per troy ounce. For a full dollar of face value in 90 percent dimes, which is ten coins, the figure is 0.715 troy ounces of silver, so the melt value of $1 face in dimes equals 0.715 multiplied by the spot price. A newly minted dime holds slightly more pure silver than the convention suggests, and the standard figure allows for typical wear. Our live silver price page shows the current spot price so you can run the numbers yourself at any time.

Because silver prices move daily, we do not quote dollar figures in this guide. What stays constant is the principle: a common-date silver dime is worth its melt value, and a scarcer date or better grade is worth a premium to collectors. Bulk lots of common circulated silver dimes, sometimes called junk silver, trade based on face value and silver content. Our guide to junk silver coins covers how those lots are priced and counted.

It is worth remembering that melt value is a floor, not a ceiling. Before anyone sells silver dimes by weight, it makes sense to check them for the key dates and conditions described below. A single scarce coin in a roll of common dimes can be worth far more than the silver in the entire roll, and that is why we examine every dime before we quote on a group.

Barber Dime Rarities, Including the 1894-S

The Barber dime was designed by Chief Engraver Charles Barber and struck from 1892 through 1916. The obverse shows a Liberty head wearing a laurel wreath and a cap, and the reverse carries a wreath surrounding the denomination. These are 90 percent silver coins, so every Barber dime is at least a melt-value coin, and because they are old and many were heavily circulated, worn examples are common while sharp, well-preserved ones are far less so.

The headline rarity is the 1894-S Barber dime. Only 24 were struck at the San Francisco Mint, which makes it one of the most famous rarities in United States coinage. Examples are held mostly in established collections and appear on the market very rarely. If you are sorting a family collection, you are very unlikely to find one, but it is the coin that makes Barber dimes a subject of lasting interest for collectors.

Beyond the 1894-S, the series has other issues that command a premium. Barber dimes struck at the San Francisco and New Orleans mints in the 1890s generally carry more collector interest than Philadelphia issues of the same period, and coins in the higher grades are scarcer than their circulated counterparts. The mint mark on a Barber dime appears on the reverse, below the wreath bow. A Barber dime with no mint mark was struck in Philadelphia.

Grade matters a great deal with this series because Barber dimes are often found worn, with the date partly smoothed away and the details of Liberty’s hair and the wreath softened. A readable date and a clear mint mark are the first requirements for collector value beyond melt. For a deeper look at this design and its companion Barber quarter and half dollar, see our Barber coinage value guide. Anyone who thinks they may hold a scarce Barber dime is welcome to bring it to our San Antonio showroom for a look.

Mercury Dime Key Dates and Overdates

The Winged Liberty Head dime, universally called the Mercury dime, was designed by Adolph Weinman and struck from 1916 through 1945. The obverse portrays Liberty wearing a winged cap, which people mistook for the Roman god Mercury, and the reverse shows a fasces bound with a band, alongside an olive branch. All are 90 percent silver. The mint mark appears on the reverse, to the left of the fasces.

The key date of the series is the 1916-D, with a mintage of 264,000. It is the lowest mintage in the series and the coin collectors look for first. Genuine examples carry a substantial premium in any grade, and a clearly readable D on the reverse is essential. Because this date is so widely sought, it is a coin that any dealer will examine with particular care.

The 1921 and 1921-D Mercury dimes are the other low-mintage semi-keys. Both are scarcer than the common dates of the 1920s and 1930s and bring a premium to collectors in all grades, with the premium growing as the grade rises. If you find a Mercury dime dated 1921, set it aside for a closer look.

The series is also known for overdates. The 1942/1 and 1942/1-D Mercury dimes show a 2 struck over a 1 in the date, the result of a die that was originally prepared with the earlier year and then re-used. On these varieties, the underlying 1 can be seen under the 2, and both the Philadelphia and Denver versions are collectible. The overdates carry a significant premium to collectors, especially in better grades, and a clear overdate is easy to miss without magnification.

For mintage details on the rest of the series, grade-by-grade guidance and more on the Mercury design, see our Mercury dime value guide.

Full Bands: The Grade Detail That Changes Value

Full Split Bands is a grading designation applied to Mercury dimes by PCGS and NGC. On the reverse of the coin, a fasces is wrapped by two horizontal bands, and each band is divided by a thin groove. When the strike is sharp enough that the two halves of each band are clearly separated, the coin can earn the Full Split Bands designation, often abbreviated FSB or FB. It is a measure of how well the dies filled and how little wear the coin has seen.

This designation matters because the center of the Mercury dime reverse was a difficult area to strike. Many coins left the mint with soft, flattened bands even though the rest of the coin looked sharp, so a well-struck example with fully separated bands is considerably scarcer than a typical coin of the same date and grade. For many dates, a Mercury dime with Full Split Bands brings a premium to collectors, and in higher Mint State grades that premium can be significant.

A similar designation applies to the later series. Roosevelt dimes can earn a Full Bands designation, which is based on the sharpness of the horizontal bands on the torch on the reverse. Like the Mercury designation, Full Bands on a Roosevelt dime is assigned by PCGS and NGC and is considered at grading time, not something that a collector or dealer can simply assert. A Roosevelt dime that earns the designation is a better-struck coin that collectors of Mint State examples seek.

The practical point is that these designations apply to certified coins. An uncertified Mercury dime may show sharp bands, but the designation itself comes only from a grading service. If you hold a Mercury dime with a very strong strike and little wear, it may be a candidate for certification, and as PCGS and NGC Authorized Dealers we can talk through whether submission makes sense for a particular coin.

Roosevelt Dimes Worth Money

The Roosevelt dime, designed by John Sinnock, was introduced in 1946 and is still being produced. Dimes dated from 1946 through 1964 are 90 percent silver and are worth at least melt value. From 1965 on, the dime is a clad coin with copper-nickel outer layers bonded to a copper core, and as a rule those coins are worth face value. The exceptions are specific errors, varieties and top-grade pieces.

The first of the exceptions is the 1965 transitional dime. When the mint changed to clad coinage, a small number of 90 percent silver planchets were mistakenly fed into the presses and struck with 1965 dies. These transitional errors are rare and are among the most notable dimes of the modern era. They are valued well above melt, and they are best identified by a specialist, since weight and appearance both matter.

The next group is the proof dimes missing the S mint mark. Proof Roosevelt dimes are struck at San Francisco and are supposed to carry an S, but dies missing the mint mark were used to strike proofs in 1968, 1970 and 1975. The 1975 no-S dime is the great rarity among them, with only two known. The 1968 and 1970 no-S proof dimes are scarcer than regular proofs, though not as rare as the 1975, and all of them bring significant premiums.

Two more modern issues have collector interest. The 1982 no-P Roosevelt dime is a Philadelphia strike that was missing its P mint mark, an error that arose in the first years after the mark was added to dimes. And the 1996-W Roosevelt dime, with 1,457,000 issued only in mint sets, carries a W mint mark and is one of the few modern dimes that circulating-coin collectors need a mint set to obtain. Both are coins worth setting aside if you find them.

1964 and 1965 Dime Value: How to Tell Silver From Clad

The question of 1964 dime value and 1965 dime value comes up constantly, because those two years sit on either side of the change from silver to clad. A 1964 dime, including those struck at Philadelphia and Denver, is 90 percent silver and is worth at least its silver melt value. A 1965 dime is a clad coin and is worth face value unless it is one of the rare transitional errors struck on a silver planchet or a particularly sharp, top-grade example.

The quickest way to separate silver from clad is the edge. Hold the dime on its side and look at the rim. A silver dime shows a solid, uniformly silver-colored edge with no stripe. A clad dime shows a visible copper-colored stripe running around the edge, which is the exposed copper core between the nickel-bearing outer layers. Dates make the first cut, and the edge confirms it.

Weight gives a second check. A 90 percent silver dime weighs 2.50 grams, while a clad dime weighs about 2.27 grams, and a small scale that reads to a tenth of a gram will show the difference. A 1965 dime that weighs about 2.50 grams instead of about 2.27 is the signature of a possible transitional error, and it should be set aside for a closer look.

Sound and color are less reliable than edge and weight, but experienced handlers often notice that silver dimes have a softer ring and a warmer gray tone, while clad coins look brighter and slightly more yellow at the worn high points. None of that replaces the date, the edge and the weight. Remember too that a 1964 dime is silver whether it is worn smooth or nearly new, so the date check is the one that matters most when you are sorting a large number of coins.

How Grade and Certification Change a Dime’s Value

Grade describes the condition of a coin on the Sheldon scale, which runs from 1 to 70. Circulated dimes fall in the lower ranges, from Good through About Uncirculated at AU-50 to AU-58, and uncirculated coins are rated Mint State from MS-60 to MS-70. Within a given date, value rises as the grade rises, and the increase accelerates in higher Mint State grades, where coins with full luster, sharp strikes and clean surfaces are scarcest.

For common-date silver dimes, grade changes little at the low end, since a well-worn coin is still a melt-value coin. At the high end, a common date in a strong Mint State grade can bring a premium to collectors that exceeds melt value. For scarce dates, grade is much more important because there are fewer coins in the higher grades, and the premium for a better example can be significant.

Strike and eye appeal also matter. Luster is the cartwheel effect that a fresh, undisturbed surface produces. Toning, the color that develops on silver over time, can add to or detract from a coin’s appeal depending on how even and attractive it is. Cleaning or polishing a dime damages the surface and can reduce its value to a collector, so do not clean coins you are unsure about.

Certification is the last of the value factors. PCGS and NGC grade and encapsulate coins in sealed holders, assigning a numeric grade and, where earned, a designation such as Full Split Bands or Full Bands. Certification does not make a common dime valuable, but for scarce dates, varieties and high-grade coins it provides an independent opinion that collectors rely on. Lone Star Coins is a PCGS and NGC Authorized Dealer, so we can facilitate certification for dimes where it makes sense.

How to Sort Your Dimes Step by Step

A methodical approach makes sorting easier and keeps you from missing something. Begin by separating the dimes by date. Pull out everything dated 1964 or earlier into one pile, since that group is silver and has melt value. Everything dated 1965 or later goes into a second pile. If the date on a coin is worn away, set it aside, because it may be a Barber or Mercury dime that needs a closer look.

Work through the silver pile next. Divide it by design: Barber dimes, Mercury dimes and Roosevelt dimes. Check each Barber for its mint mark below the wreath bow, and each Mercury for the mint mark to the left of the fasces. Set aside any 1916-D, any 1921 or 1921-D, and any 1942 that looks like it has a doubled or overlapping digit in the date. Look at the reverse of each Mercury dime for crisp, separated bands on the fasces.

Then go through the 1965-and-later pile for unusual coins. Look at the weight and the edge of any 1965 dime for a silver planchet error. Look for Roosevelt dimes dated 1982 that lack a P mint mark above the date. Set aside any dime dated 1996 with a W mint mark, and any proof dime dated 1968, 1970 or 1975 that lacks an S. Proof coins often come in their original government packaging, which makes them easier to recognize.

When you have finished, you will have common silver dimes to be valued at melt, a handful of coins that deserve a closer look, and a larger pile of face-value clad coins. If you also have quarters in the same collection, our guide to quarters worth money follows a similar approach, with its own set of key dates and silver cutoff year. Handle coins by the edges and keep them away from cleaning products and humid storage.

Getting Dimes Appraised and Sold in San Antonio

Whether you have a jar of silver dimes or a single coin you suspect is scarce, the simplest way to learn what you have is to have it looked at by someone who handles these coins every day. Lone Star Coins offers free coin appraisals in San Antonio at our showroom at 2622 NW Loop 410. There is no appointment required. Bring your dimes in as they are, without cleaning them, and we will tell you exactly what you have.

When we look at a group of dimes, we separate the silver from the clad, identify any key dates, overdates, missing mint marks and varieties, and assess the grade of the better pieces. Common silver dimes are valued by their silver content, so the figure depends on the current silver price, which you can follow on our live silver price page. Scarcer dates and higher-grade coins are valued as collector coins, with a premium that reflects date, mint mark, grade and strike.

Lone Star Coins buys and sells coins and currency daily, both in our showroom and online, and we have been doing so for more than 40 years as a family-owned business. We are PCGS and NGC Authorized Dealers and members of the National Coin & Bullion Association. For particularly valuable specimens, such as a scarce key date or a Mercury dime with a sharp strike, we can also facilitate certification so that the coin is graded and encapsulated by a leading service.

If you are not in San Antonio, we ship nationwide, and our website lets you browse and buy silver and collector coins from anywhere. Whether you want to sell a collection, add a key date to your own, or simply find out whether the dimes in your drawer are worth more than ten cents, we are glad to help.