American Rare Dimes: For throughout all of American numismatic lore, no denomination has ever produced quite as many extreme rarities as the humble dime.
But then those little silver discs — so often ignored in everyday exchanges — attain something akin to legend amongst collectors, fetching prices that far outweigh their tiny size and unassuming face value.
Here are the stories of America’s most valuable dimes — coins that offer collectors the perfect trifecta of rarity, historic interest and popular demand.
Table of Contents
The 1894-S Barber Dime:
A San Francisco Mystery and $2 Million Reward, the third in the series of books Decoding the Mystery of the 1888, 1900 and 1912 Liberty Head Five Cent Nickels by R.W. Julian, Nancy Oliver and Leonard Augsburger.
The unquestioned monarch of rare American dimes is the 1894-S Barber dime. Only 24 examples were produced at the San Francisco Mint with only nine pieces known to numismatists today, it remains one of the premier mysteries of American numismatics.
The method of its creation is disputed by historians. The best real story is that San Francisco Mint Superintendent John Daggett had 24 dimes struck – $2.40 in face value – as an accounting of sorts to round off the Mint’s financial books to an even dollar.
According to reports he gave three coins to his daughter Hallie telling her to save them as they’d be worth something. She famously spent the other on ice cream instead — to the horror of numismatists, who now consider the choice colossally expensive.
In 2016, one of them, graded Proof-66 by Professional Coin Grading Service, sold for $1.9 million at auction.
Even heavily circulated examples sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it could be argued that the 1894-S is the most expensive American coin by face value.
The 1916-D Mercury Dime: Denver’s Low-Mintage Star
American Rare Dimes- When the design of the Mercury dime began in 1916, only 264,000 were made before the Denver Mint reassigned its production lines to make quarters.
This modest output bestowed one of America’s greatest circulation rarities. The coin bears a beautiful design by Adolph A.
Weinman, showing Liberty wearing a winged cap (frequently mistaken for the Roman god Mercury), which has been hailed as one of the most attractive in United States coinage history.
There were very few saved in Mint State, since the coin had little meaning at the time. It did however enter circulation in large enough numbers that were worn down before collectors until it’s rarity was realized.
To-day, specimens that are in mint condition frequently sell for over $10,000, and examples that have not seen circulation can sell for over a hundred thousand dollars.
Even well-worn specimens bring thousands of dollars — impressive for a coin that was originally valued at one-tenth of a dollar.
1942/1: Wartime Mercury Overdate
In the flurry of production surrounding World War II, a remarkable mint error occurred when a die to strike 1942-dated dimes was produced by punching the third 2 over the second 1 in a 1941 overdate.
This produced an obvious “1” beneath the “2” in the date, making what numismatists term a overdate variety.
This mistake was made at both the Denver and Philadelphia mints, though the Philadelphia version was much scarcer.
Top-end specimens with the 1942/1 Philadelphia overdate appear with regularity and their values range from $10,000 to $25,000 as do high-grade 1942 and 1944-S examples, with some selling for well in excess of $50,000 at the block.
The Denver is both lower in value but still richer in price tag compared to most Mercury dimes.
1975 No-S Proof Roosevelt Dime: A Modern Rarity
American Rare Dimes- The 1975 No-S Proof Roosevelt dime demonstrates that valuable dime can realize from modern issues, it has become one of the most valuable modern American coins.
A small number of dimes was struck without the “S” mint mark on 1975 proof sets that were made at the San Francisco Mint. Though two are known, this modern error is actually rarer than the famed 1894-S.
When an example came up for auction in 2019, it sold for an astounding $456,000, making it one of the most valuable of modern American coins.
The other known example’s whereabouts are a private collection and would draw such a price if it ever came to market.
America’s First The 1796 Draped Bust Dime
The first dimes struck at the United States Mint are particularly desirable for early American coin collectors. These first dimes were minted in 1796 and bore the Draped Bust on the obverse and a small eagle on the reverse.
They are survivors of a mintage of about 22,135 and now represent the denomination upon which American business would be based.
Extant Hoards and Locations In Spink’s 2014 annual sales totals six Notes are priced at £30,000 or above and individual Notes appear as £30,000 – 90,000 lots in most of the illustrated sale catalogues.
In addition to their rarity, these monetary relics are significant as survivors of the early mint when it was under the control of the first U.S. Mint Director, David Rittenhouse.
The 1874-CC Liberty Seated Dime – A Carson City Treasure
The Carson City Mint in Nevada struck a meager quantity of dimes while in operation, and the 1874-CC is especially elusive, with a production run of only 10,817 perfect specimens.
As these coins actually circulated in the Nevada mining towns where they were so heavily used, very few of them were saved in collectible condition.
Some 50 to 100 pieces survive today in all grades, with those that are in great shape bringing more than $50,000.
Their ties to the country’s silver mining history, as well as America’s romanticized Old West, provides historical appeal along with their numerical rarity.
These remarkable dimes illustrate how historical circumstance, production quirks, and collector interest can combine to create treasures worth many times their weight in precious metal – and showing that some of the most valuable numismatic finds exist in the tiniest packages.
