MELT VALUES / MODERN
Roosevelt Dime (Clad, 1965– )
Designer
John R. Sinnock
Years struck
1965–present
Mints
Philadelphia (P from 1980), Denver (D), San Francisco (S, proofs)
Multi-billion annual mintages; zero precious-metal content.
THE STORY
The Coinage Act of 1965 stripped silver from the dime and quarter as the Treasury's silver stock collapsed — the moment US coinage became pure fiat token. The design is unchanged since 1946, making it the longest-running unmodified US design still in production.
Clad dimes are worth about 3 cents in metal — the melt table's reminder of what 1965 actually did.
KEY DATES WORTH REAL MONEY
Check these before treating any coin as melt.
| 1975 No-S proof | Two known — a half-million-dollar coin |
| 1982 No-P | Mint-mark omission error worth $50-300 |
| 1996-W | West Point 50th-anniversary issue, only in mint sets |
Think you have one? Check recent auction records before selling — and read our grading basics first.
SPECIFICATIONS
Grading: where wear shows first
Circulation wear is irrelevant to value here - only errors and the collector-only issues matter.
Never clean a coin. Ever. Cleaning permanently destroys collector value — dark original toning is worth more than shiny damage.
Counterfeit check
Check edges on 1965-dated dimes: a solid silver edge (no copper stripe) on a 1965 could be a transitional silver-planchet error worth thousands.
Gear that settles it: an electromagnetic verifier, a calibrated scale and calipers — counterfeit basics.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ACTUALLY ASK
Are any clad dimes valuable?
Errors: the 1975 No-S proof is a half-million-dollar coin, the 1982 no-mint-mark is worth $50-300, and 1965 silver transitional errors surface occasionally. The edge tells you instantly.
Coin image: Wikimedia Commons — Public domain — Professional Coin Grading Service.
