Silveric Matter

  1953 Roosevelt Silver Dime The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Silver Dime came into being on time for the remembrance of his birthday on January 30th, 1946.  The US’ only four term president had passed away the year before on April 12th, 1945.  The dime was selected mostly because FDR’s association with the “March of Dimes”.  FDR was struck by polio as an adult and managed to survive, however he was never able to walk on his own ever since. In 1926 he started the non-profit Georgia Warm Springs Foundation to allow others to hopefully find help from the springs therapeutic effects.  In 1938 he founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP).  During a fundraiser the celebrity singer Eddie Cantor had cracked a joke.  Cantor’s urging of the listeners to send their dimes to FDR was taken seriously.  During the following days and weeks 2,680,000 dimes were sent to the White House.  Quickly the “March of Dimes” replaced NFIP. The FDR is...

  1895 O Barber Dime The Barber Dime was minted from 1892 to 1916.  They got their name from the designer Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber.  These silver coins have a reeded edge and composed of 90% silver and 10% copper.  The diameter is 17.9mm with a weight of 2.5 grams. The obverse of the Barber Dime has a Liberty head on it wearing a cap, a laurel wreath, and a band with “LIBERTY” engraved on it.  The date is underneath the Liberty head and it has “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” encircling the rest of the coin. The reverse has printed “ONE DIME” stacked in the center and a wreath with ivy, oak, corn, and wheat encircling it around the rim of the coin.  Its mint mark is under the wreath.  Philadelphia has no mint mark, New Orleans marked “O” (which closed for good in 1909), Denver with a “D” (opened in 1906), or San Francisco with an “S”. Sometimes the Barber Dime and the other Barber coin designs are often criticized for being lifted from the Morgan Dol...

1843 Seated Liberty Dime The Seated Liberty Dime series was struck in 1837 thru 1891.  Silver prices fluctuated greatly during these years and Congress reacted by changing the weights of four denomination silver coins of the time, including the Seated Liberty Dime.  These silver dimes had three different weights with eight variations in design to distinguish these differences. Every Seated Liberty Dime is 17.9 millimeters in diameter of the 90% silver and 10% copper alloy with a reeded edge. Type I: “Without Stars Obverse” (1837-1838); this obverse is this minimum of the Seated Liberty Dime types.  These silver coins have the robed Liberty seated on a rock with a staff with a cap on it in one hand and the other hand resting on a shield which has “LIBERTY” engraved across it and the date underneath at the base of the dime.  These weigh 2.67 grams. The reverse has “ONE DIME” stacked in the center surrounded by a wreath and that surrounded by “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” ...

1834 Capped Bust Dime The Capped Bust Dime was minted irregularly from 1809 to 1837.  They were designed by John Reich and are the first dime minted by the United States to indicate their denomination (“10C.”).  These silver coins are often placed into two types. “Large Size” (referring to the ‘dentails’ which is the barring on the outer most rim) Capped Bust Dime was struck from 1809-1828 on screw presses with opened collars which lead to more weak strikes and they also needed a second process for creating the reeded edge. “Small Size” refers to the silver dimes struck on the newer presses than had collars.  These collars add the reeded edge with the strike that imposes the die on the blank planchet.  Besides reducing the strike action to one press it also provided better alignment and thus better overall strength on each strike.  The Small Sized Capped Bust Dime strikes started during the 1828 minting and exclusively used from 1829 to 1837.  Collared stri...

1796 Draped Bust Dime  The Draped Bust Dime silver coin series was struck from 1796 thru 1807 skipping 1799 and 1806, producing 422,010 silver coins.  These are the first dimes minted by the United States even though the first coin struck with President George Washington’s approval was the Half Disme (dime) in 1792.  The Drape Bust Dime is 89.24% silver and 10.76% copper, weighing 2.70 grams and a diameter of 19.0 millimeters with a reeded edge.  There is no denomination indicated on these coins. The Draped Bust Dime obverse design based on a portrait of Liberty done by Gilbert Stuart which Robert Scot first adapted for the 1795 silver dollar.  This Liberty bust with flowing hair tied loosely if a bow faces right.  The date is directly underneath her at the rim. On both the left and the right of Liberty following the curve of the rim are stars, either 13, 15, or 16.  “LIBERTY” separates the two strings of stars centered and arching along the rim direct...

1938 Mercury Dime, PCGS PR-65  (photo by Northern Lights Numismatics*) The Mercury Head Dimes were designed by sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman in 1916 and minted in 1916 through 1945.  This silver dime has a diameter of 17.90 mm, weighing 2.5 grams, the edge has 118 reeds.  This silver coin is made of 90% silver and 10% copper. Adolph Alexander Weinman also designed the ‘Walking Liberty’ silver half dollar the same year.  His Neo-classical design is a beautiful example of the times.  It had become tradition to have Liberty portrayed on United States coins and Weinman continued in this fashion.  The Phrygian cap, adapted by the French Revolutionaries as a symbol of their pursuit of liberty, had been used before on coins minted in the United States.  Weinman had added wings to his Liberties cap and with only the short ringlet curls of hair apparent Liberty (the model’s hair was tucked away in the back) is frequently interpreted as being a depiction of ...