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The dime, in United States usage, is a ten-
cent coin
A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...
, one tenth of a
United States dollar
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
, labeled formally as "one dime". The denomination was first authorized by the
Coinage Act of 1792.
The dime is the smallest in
diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...
and is the thinnest of all U.S. coins currently
minted for circulation, being in
diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...
and in thickness. The obverse of
the current dime depicts the profile of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
and the reverse has an olive branch, a torch, and an oak branch, from left to right respectively.
The word ''dime'' comes from the
Old French
Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th ''disme'' (Modern French">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...
''disme'' (Modern French dîme), meaning "tithe" or "tenth part", from the Latin ''decima [pars]''. The dime is currently the only United States coin in general circulation that is not denominated in terms of dollars or cent (United States coin), cents. , the dime cost 5.65 cents to produce.
History
The
Coinage Act of 1792 established the dime (spelled "disme" in the legislation),
Penny (United States coin), cent, and
mill as subdivisions of the dollar equal to , and dollar respectively.
The first known proposal for a
decimal
The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers (''decimal fractions'') of th ...
-based coinage system in the United States was made in 1783 by
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
,
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
,
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...
, and
David Rittenhouse. Hamilton, the nation's first
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
, recommended the issuance of six such coins in 1791, in a report to
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
. Among the six was a silver coin, "which shall be, in weight and value, one-tenth part of a silver unit or dollar".
From 1796 to 1837, dimes were composed of 89.24% silver and 10.76% copper,
the value of which required the coins to be physically very small to prevent their commodity value from being worth more than
face value.
["Frequently Asked Questions"](_blank)
. The United States Mint. Retrieved July 19, 2006. Thus dimes are made small and thin. The silver percentage was increased to 90.0% with the introduction of the Seated Liberty dime; the use of a richer alloy was offset by reducing the diameter from 18.8 millimeters (0.740 inches) to its current figure of 17.9 millimeters (0.705 inches).
[Yeoman, R.S., ''A Guide Book of United States Coins'' (2004 edition), Whitman Publishing, 2003. .]
With the passage of the
Coinage Act of 1965
The Coinage Act of 1965, , eliminated silver from the circulating United States Dime (United States coin), dime (ten-cent piece) and Quarter (United States coin), quarter dollar coins. It also reduced the silver content of the Half dollar (Unite ...
, the dime's
silver content was removed. Dimes from 1965 to the present are struck from a
clad metal composed of outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel alloy, bonded to a pure copper core. Pre-1965 dimes followed
Gresham's law and vanished from ordinary currency circulation at face value. Most now trade as informal
bullion coins known as
junk silver, priced at some multiple of face value, which price follows the
spot price of silver on commodity markets.
Starting in 1992, the U.S. Mint began issuing Silver
Proof Sets annually, which contain dimes composed of the pre-1965 standard of 90% silver and 10% copper, then switched to .999 fine silver from 2019 onward. These sets are intended solely for collectors and are not meant for general circulation.
Design history
Since its introduction in 1796, the dime has been issued in six different major types, excluding the 1792 "disme". The name for each type (except for the Barber dime) indicates the design on the coin's
obverse.
*
Draped Bust 1796–1807
*
Capped Bust 1809–1837
*
Seated Liberty 1837–1891
*
Barber 1892–1916
*
Winged Liberty Head (Mercury) 1916–1945
*Roosevelt 1946–present
"Disme" (1792)
The Coinage Act of 1792, passed on April 2, 1792, authorized the mintage of a "disme", one-tenth the silver weight and value of a dollar. The composition of the disme was set at 89.24% silver and 10.76% copper. In 1792, a limited number of dismes were minted but never circulated. Some of these were struck in copper, indicating that the 1792 dismes were in fact
pattern coins. The first dimes minted for circulation did not appear until 1796, due to a lack of demand for the coin and production problems at the
United States Mint
The United States Mint is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bull ...
.
Draped Bust (1796–1807)
The first dime to be circulated was the Draped Bust dime, in 1796. It featured the same obverse and reverse as all other circulating coins of the time, the so-called Draped Bust/Small Eagle design. This design was the work of then-Chief Engraver
Robert Scot. The portrait of Liberty on the obverse was based on a
Gilbert Stuart drawing of prominent
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
socialite Ann Willing Bingham, wife of noted American statesman
William Bingham. The reverse design is of a small
bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...
surrounded by palm and olive branches, and perched on a cloud. Since the Coinage Act of 1792 required only that the cent and
half cent display their
denomination, Draped Bust dimes were minted with no indication of their value.
[Draped Bust Dime:Small Eagle](_blank)
Retrieved on 2010-2-9
All 1796 dimes have 15 stars on the obverse, representing the number of
U.S. states then in the Union. The first 1797 dimes were minted with 16 stars, reflecting
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
's admission as the 16th state. Realizing that the practice of adding one star per state could quickly clutter the coin's design, U.S. Mint Director
Elias Boudinot ordered a design alteration, to feature just 13 stars (for the original
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America.
The Thirteen C ...
). Therefore, 1797 dimes can be found with either 13 or 16 stars.
Also designed by Robert Scot, the Heraldic Eagle reverse design made its debut in 1798. The obverse continued from the previous series, but the eagle on the reverse was changed from the widely criticized "scrawny" hatchling to a scaled-down version of the
Great Seal of the United States
The Great Seal is the seal of the United States. The phrase is used both for the Seal (emblem), impression device itself, which is kept by the United States secretary of state, and more generally for the impression it produces. The Obverse and r ...
. The Draped Bust/Heraldic Eagles series continued through 1807 (although no dimes dated 1799 or 1806 were minted). Both Draped Bust designs were composed of 89.24% silver and 10.76% copper.
Capped Bust (1809–1837)
The Draped Bust design was succeeded by the Capped Bust, designed by Mint Assistant Engraver John Reich. Both the obverse and reverse were changed extensively. The new reverse featured a bald eagle grasping three arrows (symbolizing strength) and an olive branch (symbolizing peace). Covering the eagle's breast is a U.S. shield with six horizontal lines and 13 vertical stripes.
[History of the Capped Bust Dime (1809-1828)](_blank)
Retrieved on 2010-2-9 Also on the reverse is the lettering "10C," making it the only dime minted with the value given in cents (subsequent issues are inscribed with the words "ONE DIME"). The lack of numeric value markings on subsequent dime coins causes some confusion amongst foreign visitors, who may be unaware of the value of the coin. Also, the Capped Bust dime was the first dime to have its value written on the coin. Previous designs of the dime had no indication of its value, the way people determined its value was by its size
Capped Bust dimes minted through 1828 are known as the Large type. This is partially because they were struck without a restraining collar, which gave them a broader appearance. In 1828, Chief Engraver
William Kneass introduced the close collar method of coining (which automated the process of placing
reeds on a coin's edge). In addition to standardizing the diameter of coins, the new method allowed the Mint to produce thicker coins. To maintain a standard weight and alloy, the diameter of most coins was reduced. In particular, the dime was reduced in diameter from 18.8 to 18.5 millimeters. This new Capped Bust dime, which began production in 1828, is known as the Small type. There are 123 varieties known of Capped Bust Dimes.
Seated Liberty (1837–1891)
Christian Gobrecht completed the design of the Seated Liberty dime, whose obverse was used with every circulating silver U.S. coin of the period. Mint Director Robert Maskell Patterson requested a new coin design, to be reminiscent of the
Britannia
The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...
image found on coinage of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Chief Engraver
William Kneass drew the original sketches, but suffered a stroke and was too ill to finish them or to oversee preparation of the
dies. The task then fell to Gobrecht, who was promoted to Second Engraver.
[History of the Seated Liberty Dime (Variety I)](_blank)
Retrieved on 2010-2-9
The obverse features an image of Liberty sitting on a rock, wearing a dress and holding a staff with a
liberty cap on top. Her right hand is balancing a shield with the inscription "LIBERTY." The reverse featured the inscription "ONE DIME," surrounded by a wreath. All Seated Liberty dimes contain 90% silver and 10% copper, and are 17.9 millimeters (0.705 inch) in diameter. This size and metal composition would continue until 1965, when silver was permanently removed from circulating dimes.
There were several minor varieties during the Seated Liberty's run. The initial design (1837) had no stars on the obverse and, further, the dates were minted in a Large Date and Small Date variety. These two types can be distinguished by noting the "3" and the "7" in the date. In the Large Date variety, the "3" has a pointed
serif
In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ( ...
at top, and the horizontal element of the "7" is straight. In the Small Date variety, the "3" has a rounded serif, and there is small a knob, or bulge, in the "7" horizontal element.
Only the Philadelphia Mint made both varieties. The Small Date is slightly rarer. The New Orleans Mint also made the Seated Liberty Dime in this year, but only in the Small Date variety.
Thirteen stars (symbolizing the 13 original colonies) were added to the perimeter of the obverse in 1838. These were replaced with the legend "United States of America," which was moved from the reverse in mid-1860. At the same time, the laurel wreath on the reverse was changed to a wreath of corn, wheat, maple, and oak leaves and expanded nearly to the rim of the coin. This reverse design continued through the end of the series in 1891 and was changed only slightly in 1892, when the Barber dime debuted. Another variety is the 1838–40 dime minted with no drapery underneath the left elbow of Liberty.
Arrows at the date in 1853 and 1873 indicated changes made in the coin's
mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
(from 2.67
gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram.
Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute Mass versus weight, weight of a volume ...
s to 2.49 grams in 1853, then to 2.50 grams in 1873). The first change was made in response to rising silver prices, while the latter alteration was brought about by the
Mint Act of 1873 which, in an attempt to make U.S. coinage the currency of the world, added a small amount of mass to the dime, quarter, and half-dollar to bring their weights in line with fractions of the French 5-
franc piece.
[History of the Seated Liberty Dime (Variety III)](_blank)
Retrieved on 2010-2-9 The change also ensured the quarter dollar (which is valued 2.5 times the dime) weighed 2.5 times the dime (6.25g), and the half dollar (twice the value of the quarter dollar) weighed twice what the quarter dollar weighed (12.5g). In this way, a specific weight of these coins, no matter the mixture of denominations, would always be worth the same. This relation in weight and value continued in the cupronickel coins from 1965 on.
This produced the greatest rarities in the Seated Dime Series, the 1873 and 1874 Carson City Dimes, with arrows and the unique 1873 Carson City Dime without arrows.
Barber (1892–1916)
The Barber dime is named for its designer,
Charles E. Barber, who was Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint from 1879 to 1917. The design was shared with the
quarter and
half-dollar of the same period. Extensive internal politics surrounded the awarding of the design job, which had initially been opened to the public. A four-member committee (which included Barber), appointed by then-Mint Director James Kimball, accorded only two of more than 300 submissions an honorable mention. Kimball's successor, Edward O. Leech, decided to dispense with the committees and public design competitions and simply instructed Barber to develop a new design. It has been speculated that this is what Barber had wanted all along.
[History of the Barber Dime](_blank)
Retrieved on 2010-2-9
The Barber dime, as with all previous dimes, featured an image of Liberty on the obverse. She is wearing a
Phrygian cap, a
laurel wreath
A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...
with a ribbon, and a headband with the inscription "LIBERTY". This inscription is one of the key elements used in determining the condition of Barber dimes.
Liberty's portrait was inspired by two sources—French coins and medals of the period, as well as ancient
Greek and
Roman sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
. The obverse also contains the long-used 13 stars (for the 13 colonies) design element. The reverse contained a wreath and inscription almost identical to the one used on the final design of the Seated Liberty dime.
Dimes were produced at all four of the mints that operated during the period. While circulated coins of the entire series are readily available to collectors there is one outstanding rarity, the
1894-S Barber Dime. Twenty-four were minted, with 9 currently known.
Winged Liberty Head ("Mercury") (1916–1945)
Although most commonly referred to as the "Mercury" dime, the Winged Liberty Head does not depict the
Roman messenger god. The obverse figure is a depiction of the mythological
goddess Liberty wearing a
Phrygian cap, a classic Western symbol of liberty and freedom, with its wings intended to symbolize freedom of thought. Designed by noted sculptor
Adolph A. Weinman, the Winged Liberty Head dime is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful U.S. coin designs ever produced.
[History of the Mercury Dime](_blank)
Retrieved on 2010-2-9 The composition (90% silver, 10% copper) and diameter (17.9 millimeters) of the "Mercury" dime was unchanged from the Barber dime.
Weinman (who had studied under
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculpture, sculptor of the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Iris ...
) won a 1915 competition against two other artists for the design job, and is thought to have modeled his version of Liberty on Elsie Kachel Stevens, wife of noted poet
Wallace Stevens.
The reverse design, a
fasces juxtaposed with an olive branch, was intended to symbolize America's readiness for war, combined with its desire for peace. Although the fasces was later officially adopted by
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
and his
National Fascist Party, the symbol was also
common in American iconography and has generally avoided any stigma associated with its usage in wartime Italy.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1946–present)
Soon after the death of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
in April 1945, legislation was introduced by
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
Congressman
Ralph H. Daughton that called for the replacement of the Mercury dime with one bearing Roosevelt's image.
[Yanchunas, Dom. "The Roosevelt Dime at 60." ''COINage Magazine'', February 2006.] The dime was chosen to honor Roosevelt partly due to his efforts in the founding of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (later renamed the
March of Dimes), which originally raised money for
polio
Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...
research and to aid victims of the disease and their families.
["Conservatives want Reagan to replace FDR on U.S. dimes"](_blank)
. ''USA Today''. Retrieved July 12, 2006.
Due to the limited amount of time available to design the new coin, the
Roosevelt dime was the first regular-issue U.S. coin designed by a Mint employee in more than 40 years. Chief Engraver
John R. Sinnock was chosen, as he had already designed a Mint presidential medal of Roosevelt.
Sinnock's first design, submitted on October 12, 1945, was rejected, but a subsequent one was accepted on January 6, 1946.
The dime was released to the public on January 30, 1946, which would have been Roosevelt's 64th birthday. Sinnock's design placed his initials ("JS") at the base of Roosevelt's neck, on the coin's obverse. His reverse design elements of a torch, olive branch, and oak branch symbolized, respectively, liberty, peace, and strength.
Controversy immediately ensued, as strong
anti-Communist sentiment in the United States led to the circulation of rumors that the "JS" engraved on the coin was the initials of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, placed there by a Soviet agent in the mint.
["Stalin for Dime"](_blank)
Snopes. Retrieved July 12, 2006.[Coins: Questions and Answers, 1964 edition, Krause Publications] The Mint quickly issued a statement denying this, confirming that the initials were indeed Sinnock's. The same rumor arose after the release of the Sinnock designed
Franklin half dollar in 1948.
Another controversy surrounding Sinnock's design involves his image of Roosevelt. Soon after the coin's release, it was claimed that Sinnock borrowed his design of Roosevelt from a
bas relief created by
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
sculptor
Selma Burke, unveiled at the Recorder of Deeds Building in
Washington, D.C. in September 1945. Sinnock denied this and stated that he simply utilized his earlier design on the Roosevelt medal.
With the passage of the
Coinage Act of 1965
The Coinage Act of 1965, , eliminated silver from the circulating United States Dime (United States coin), dime (ten-cent piece) and Quarter (United States coin), quarter dollar coins. It also reduced the silver content of the Half dollar (Unite ...
, the composition of the dime changed from 90% silver and 10% copper to a clad "sandwich" of pure copper inner layer between two outer layers of
cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) alloy giving a total composition of 91.67%
Cu and 8.33%
Ni. This composition was selected because it gave similar mass (now 2.268 grams instead of 2.5 grams) and electrical properties (important in
vending machines)—and most importantly, because it contained no precious metal.
The Roosevelt dime has been minted every year, beginning in 1946. Through 1955, all three mints,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, and
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
produced circulating coinage; production at San Francisco ended in 1955, resuming in 1968 with proof coinage only. Through 1964 "D" and "S"
mintmarks can be found to the left of the torch. From 1968, the mintmarks have appeared above the date. None were used in 1965–67, and Philadelphia did not show a mintmark until 1980 (in 1982, an error left the "P" off a small number of dimes, which are now valuable). To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the design, the 1996 mint sets included a "W" mintmarked dime made at the
West Point Mint.
[NGC History of the Roosevelt Dime](_blank)
Retrieved on 2010-2-7 A total of 1,457,000 dimes were issued in the sets, making it the lowest mintage Roosevelt dime up to that time.
[The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins 2009 by R. S. Yeoman ] Since then, the "P" mint mark 2015 reverse proof dime and "W" mint mark 2015 proof dime, minted at Philadelphia and West Point for inclusion in the March of Dimes collector set,
US Mint have the lowest mintages with 75,000 pieces struck for each.
See also
*
1792 half disme
* ''
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'', a popular song of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
*
Dime store, also known as a "
five and dime"
*
Dime novel
The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related form ...
, later known as
dime store novel
*
March of Dimes
* "
Stop on a dime"
*
United States Mint coin production
References
External links
Official specifications for all U.S. legal tender coinsValue and mintage for collectors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dime (United States Coin)
1796 introductions
Ten-cent coins of the United States