US dimes that were minted before 1965 contain silver. These silver dimes were struck with an alloy that contains 90% silver. The melt value for each silver dime is over $1.60 today.
The Mercury Silver Dime was continuously minted by the US Mint from 1916 until 1945. These coins feature Lady Liberty on the obverse wearing a phrygian cap, often mistaken for the Greek God Mercury due to the winged hat.
The Roosevelt Silver Dime was introduced in 1946 and was minted with a 90% silver alloy until 1964.
Silver dimes, like all 90% silver US coinage are sometimes referred to as “junk silver”. This is a common term adopted from the coin collecting industry for coins that have little to no numismatic value. Their value lies strictly in the silver content.
Junk silver dimes are a great way to start investing in silver. They are fractional and you can buy them close to spot price.
Silver Dimes in Circulation
There are still some silver dimes in everyday circulation alongside modern clad coins. The Roosevelt Dime was introduced in 1946. Billions of silver dimes were minted up until the debasement began in 1965. While many have been melted down over the years, there are still plenty available in the wild.
The easiest way to tell if you have a silver dime is by looking at the date. All dimes that were minted prior to 1965 contain 90% silver content. If your dime is from 1964 or earlier, then it is a silver dime.
Silver Dime Values
At the very minimum, a silver dime is worth its weight in silver. A 90% silver dime has an overall gross weight around 2.5 grams. Therefore, it has roughly .0715 ozt of silver. Based on the spot price, the intrinsic value of the silver is worth far more than the face value, which is the primary reason that the government stopped the use of silver and made the switch to clad coins.
An easy way to estimate the value of your silver dimes is that each $1.00 Face Value, or ten silver dimes, contains .715 troy ounces of silver. This is a commonly accepted weight that takes into consideration that there may be some wear and tear from circulation.
For more information about which silver dimes may be key dates and have some numismatic value you can check out the page on coinflation.com.
You can easily compare online dealer prices for 90% silver dimes:
