Category Archives: Roosevelt Dimes

Suspects in $200,000 Dime Theft Charged

By Hubert Walker for CoinWeek ….
As of October 21, 2023, charges have been filed against four suspects in the Philadelphia-area theft of $234,500 worth of dimes on April 13. The crime occurred in a Wal-Mart parking lot where the driver of a tractor-trailer coming from the United States Mint had stopped to take a break.

suspects robbed other tractor-trailers in the area
would attack when parked for break
removed driver
opened back with bolt cutters
hauled opportunistic stolen goods off in white cargo truck

had to break open pallettes of dimes
put dimes in small bags

put dimes into coinstar machines in MD over the next weeks
also deposited in banks near philly
but the coins deposited and sold to coinstar were only a couple grand in face

Rakiem Savage, 25
Ronald Byrd, 31
Haneef Palmer, 30
Malik Palmer, 32

all four from Philadelphia
currently held by FBI

charged w/ conspiracy, robbery, theft of government money
could face dozens of years in prison

Sources:

https://www.inquirer.com/news/dimes-us-mint-federal-reserve-rakiem-savage-ronald-byrd-haneef-palmer-malik-arrests-20231021.html

https://coinweek.com/200000-in-dimes-stolen-from-truck-in-philadelphia-cbs/

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sinnocka

The Roosevelt Dime – Stolen Design or Communist Plot?

 

The Roosevelt dime was the subject of two interesting controversies. Image: CoinWeek.
The Roosevelt dime was the subject of two interesting controversies. Image: CoinWeek.

By David Thomason Alexander for CoinWeek …..
Most circulating United States coins have received their share of negative press when first issued. This includes the beloved Roosevelt dime.

The first 1793 cents were denounced for their Chain reverse, adapted from the earlier Fugio cent but held to be a poorly chosen symbol with which to back up the Liberty head obverse. John Reich’s buxom Liberty on the 1807 half dollar was sneered at as a likeness of the artist’s “fat German mistress.”

It is scarcely necessary to go back that far in history for other examples of such popular outcries, which in virtually every case have not been based on fact. The great strength of rumor, even before the internet, has always been the ease with which preposterous stories can be launched and the difficulty in silencing them. The stories are almost always so much more fun! The first 1916 Standing Liberty quarter allegedly received a storm of criticism because designer Hermon McNeil left Liberty’s breast bare.

And some of the loudest denunciations have been based on historical memory rather than fact, such as Southern objections to the placing of Abraham Lincoln’s bust on the cent in 1909 – the “final step in transforming America into a monarchy!” as some newspapers put it at the time.

So it was upon the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at his “Little White House” in Warm Springs, Georgia, on April 12, 1945. The United States was finishing the most terrible world war in history and a slightly punch-drunk population was eager for the return of peace.

The president was exhausted from four terms as chief executive during the worldwide Great Depression and the ceaseless ordeal of war. He was still weakened from the 1921 assault of poliomyelitis, or “infantile paralysis”, from which he had emerged partially paralyzed and unable to walk freely. This condition was carefully concealed from the general public, which never saw him in a wheelchair.

A special and never-publicized railroad spur from the New York Central’s mainline under Park Avenue existed to get the president’s private car into the basement of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to avoid public scrutiny. At Warm Springs, he continued the hydrotherapy he had once believed would enable him to overcome the lingering damage of polio.

Today, medical researchers suggest that his dogged hyper-exercise may have had the opposite effect, making Roosevelt’s condition worse.

In 1945, FDR was no stranger to medallic art, of which coin design is one branch. His portrait graced Presidential Inaugural Medals in 1933 (by Paul Manship), 1937 (by Joseph Anthony Atchison), 1941, and 1945 (by Jo Davidson). Then, too, the United States Mint under long-serving director Nellie Tayloe Ross had produced large-diameter Presidential medals as part of its ongoing series, the FDR issues designed by Chief Engraver John Ray Sinnock.

John R. Sinnock at the Mint

Sinnock was born in 1888 in Raton, New Mexico, studied sculpture at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts, and began building his professional career as a member of the prestigious Philadelphia Sketch Club and the Philadelphia Alliance for the Arts. He joined the Philadelphia Mint as an assistant to the elderly George T. Morgan in 1923, and in 1928 succeeded him as Chief Engraver.

Employment at the Mint assured regular income but offered only the most limited opportunities for coin design. Once approved, circulating coin designs could not be changed for 25 years, although commemorative coins in 1921-1939 offered some creative opportunities. The Mint had long ceased to be a moving force in the world of art and design, and at first, a large part of Sinnock’s duty was the propping up of the aged Morgan.

Sinnock making final adjustments to a Roosevelt dime plaster.
Sinnock making final adjustments to a Roosevelt dime plaster. Image: Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine / CoinWorld.

In 1945, silver coins in production included two altogether exceptional designs by Adolph Alexander Weinman, adopted in 1916: the Walking Liberty half dollar and the Winged Liberty or “Mercury” dime. In Roman mythology, Mercury was a male figure, the ancient messenger of the gods. The female Liberty in the winged Phrygian cap, according to Weinman, was supposed to symbolize freedom of thought, one of the Allied goals of World War II.

The muscular, striding figure of Liberty on the half dollar strongly resembled French sculptor Louis Oscar Roty’s Liberty the Sower, who may still be seen on French euro coins today. For sheer beauty, both half dollar and dime rank high among all American coin designs released since 1794.

The quarter dollar with its Washington bust after Jean-Baptiste Houdon was a comparative newcomer, approved amid controversy in 1932.

Design of the Roosevelt Dime

Upon learning of FDR’s death, Mint Director Ross, a fervently loyal Roosevelt appointee, set to work immediately to assure that his portrait would adorn the roster of coins in daily circulation as soon as possible. A commemorative coin would not do, and neither a silver dollar nor gold coins were being issued. That left the half dollar and the dime.

FDR had been closely identified with the nationwide effort to combat the scourge of polio, which was intensifying throughout the country, particularly in major cities during the summers. This author well remembers the annual hysteria in New York City that included sequestering youngsters indoors despite stifling summer heat.

March of Dimes Ad.There was then no vaccine, and only a fuzzy understanding of the causes of the disease (though intensive research was underway). Every school had its complement of youngsters wearing cumbersome leg braces, making their way as best they could. Held fortunate were children (including the author) who survived mild attacks of polio that immunized them to future attack. The great “March of Dimes” fundraiser was providing large sums to pay for in-depth research and Director Ross drew a bead on that denomination.

Then, too, the ancient Roman symbol of the fasces adorned the existing dime reverse. Composed of an axe and a bundle of sticks that could be easily broken individually but bound together were virtually indestructible, the fasces had been adopted by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1922 as the emblem of his Fascist Party. Weinman’s fasces copied the bronze emblems on the wall of the House of Representatives flanking the Speaker’s rostrum where they remain today.

The forceful Ross realized that the Winged Liberty dime had passed its 25th anniversary in 1941 and could be changed without permission of Congress. She gave the go-ahead and the aging Sinnock went to work, propelled by a bill introduced on May 3 by Louisiana Congressman James Hobson Morrison authorizing a Roosevelt portrait. On May 17, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. announced that the new dimes would enter circulation close to year’s end.

The American Numismatic Association (ANA) journal The Numismatist claimed that 90 percent of its readers backed the Roosevelt honor, though Morgenthau personally believed that FDR was simply not in the same league as Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. Be that as it may, Sinnock was given the signal, though much of the actual work fell on his assistant Gilroy Roberts, with some input from artists on the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA).

The task was complicated by the tiny work area this denomination presented. The obverse was straightforward: the head of Roosevelt facing left, LIBERTY along the left rim, tiny IN GOD/ WE TRUST below the chin and the mintmark and date at the lower right. Not noticed, seemingly, were the tiny letters “J S” for engraver Sinnock.

Roosevelt dimeThe first reverse design publicized showed a disembodied hand gripping a flaming torch of freedom and two sprigs of olive symbolizing the return of peace. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was placed above, ONE/ DIME at left; E/ PLURIBUS/ UNUM (“Out of Many, One”), at right. At the base was the denomination, ONE DIME.

Objections to this make of the Roosevelt dime were received immediately to the hand and its tightly touched mass of leaves. Sinnock then quickly placed the torch at the center, with separate sprigs of olive at left, oak for wisdom at right, and a tiny E.PLU – RIB – US.U-NUM oddly broken up in a straight line across the reverse. All lettering was in bold sans-serif style. Newly appointed Treasury Secretary Fred Vinson, coming in late, at first rejected the models for the new dime but was won over by sculptor Lee Lawrie.

Sinnock now sank into the serious illness that was to kill him a year later. Moving swiftly, Director Ross telephoned the CFA to report these various approvals, but only after she had authorized the beginning of actual production of the new coins. The Commission was irritated, and this speed was to contribute to the controversy that soon broke out.

Some leading art critics applauded the new coin. Artist and archaeologist Cornelius Vermeule in his Numismatic Art in America (second enlarged edition with David T. Alexander, Whitman 2007) called it “a clean, satisfying and modestly stylish, no-nonsense coin that in total view come forth with notes of grandeur.”

Others have criticized the portrait itself: a round-headed likeness that critics allege does not closely resemble the long-headed FDR. Close study of the Roosevelt Presidential Mint medals will show that the facial features on the dime are accurate but the head shape simply is not. Nonetheless, the new dime was a “go”.

“Uncle Joe” Signs the Dime

No one knows with certainty when the major controversy broke out.

During 1946, the fracturing of the wartime alliances was nearly complete, as Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe emerged as a permanent reality and the first loud questionings were heard of who allowed this to happen and the search for culprits began. Decisions made at Tehran, Cairo, Yalta, and Potsdam were loudly cited and the search for alleged communist influence, sympathizers, and spies began.

FDR’s one-time Vice President Henry A. Wallace led his new Progressive Party into ruin in 1948. Long-time New Deal stalwart Senator Claude Pepper of Florida went down in flames after an especially ill-timed and poorly thought-out meeting with Marshal Josef Stalin of the USSR. “The American people like you, Marshal! They call you ‘Uncle Joe!’”

That kind of talk fitted the wartime mood of 1944; by 1946 it had become anathema. Now denounced by Senate contender George Smathers as “Red Pepper”, the veteran New Dealer went into political eclipse for decades.


No Deep State plot. Joseph Stalin’s initials do not appear on the Roosevelt dime… and Joe Sinnock certainly never met with Joseph Stalin. Image: Bad Photoshop / CoinWeek.

A public outcry now broke out, “That’s it! Just look at these new Dimes!!! Right there, J.S. for Joe Stalin! Find the culprit!! This senseless chorus became so strident that the Treasury Department felt obligated to issue official denials. Soon the long shadow of Wisconsin’s Junior Senator Joseph R. McCarthy fell across the land and the “Joe Stalin story” had lots of company.

But for all of that, the initials remain of the dime today, 75 years later.

Researchers trying to find the actual origin of this story are at a loss, as they are with the endlessly repeated story of Liberty’s breast on the 1916 quarter. In that case, serious researchers have never found any reliable evidence that the public outcry against MacNeil’s design ever took place, but the story itself is in “all the books”.

Selma Hortense Burke

All this hoopla, however, has distracted collectors from another and somewhat more solid question: was Sinnock really the designer of the Roosevelt dime? Was the Roosevelt head actually his work?

Lost in the storm over initials were the protests of those who assert that the Roosevelt head on the dime was actually the work of African-American sculptor Selma Hortense Burke (born December 31, 1900, died August 29, 1995).

North Carolina native Burke was an experienced health care nurse, educator, and major artist, active in New York City’s Harlem Renaissance and a friend of such figures as Langston Hughes, Ethel Waters, Eugene O’Neill, and Sinclair Lewis. In 1943 the Commission of Fine Arts announced a competition for the design of a sculptural plaque to honor President Roosevelt and his famous “Four Freedoms“, enunciated as major Allied goals in stressful early stages of the Second World War.


Sculptress Selma Burke poses with her bronze plaque of President Roosevelt. Image: National Museum of the U.S. Navy/ Public Domain.

These were Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear, and were popularized on posters, postage stamps, and medals. Among the most widely hailed two-dimensional treatments was Norman Rockwell’s series of paintings, which remain popular today.

The CFA contest attracted 11 artists and Selma Burke was declared the winner. A perfectionist, she insisted on completing her plaque in a sitting with President Roosevelt, something deemed impossible in wartime! Yet FDR agreed to sit for her and the finished plaque was dedicated at the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington, D.C., for decades a center for the exhibition of paintings, murals, and sculptural work of African-American artists.

The president’s wife Eleanor viewed Burke’s completed plaque but expressed the view that it made him look “too young”. The president’s son James later expressed his belief that Burke’s sculpture should be recognized as the model for the dime, a belief shared by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, N.Y.

With the Josef Stalin story successfully relegated to the realm of historical fantasy of the troubled era of the Cold War, perhaps numismatists’ attention might be more productively focused on the more concrete question of the identity of the real designer of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt dime.

* * *

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United States 1970 Roosevelt Dime

  Struck four years after the last .900 silver dimes were produced (they were dated 1964), the 1970 Roosevelt dime was struck to the tune of 345,570,000 pieces. This would have been an astronomical sum during the silver period, but for the clad era, this was a marked decline from the billion-dollar mintages reported during […]

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1982 “No P” Roosevelt Dime Auction Closing at GreatCollections

GreatCollections is offering collectors of modern mint errors a very interesting opportunity to purchase a scarce and highly sought-after 1982 “No P” Roosevelt dime graded MS67FB by PCGS. This example is one of only 10 certified by the grading service, with none finer. Bidding for this coin ends on Sunday, May 7 2023, at 5:15:21 […]

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$200,000 in Dimes Stolen From Truck in Philadelphia: CBS

CBS has given an update on a U.S. Mint delivery of millions of dimes stolen from a truck in Philadelphia   CBS Philadelphia reports that a truck containing dimes from the Philadelphia Mint was broken into early in the morning of April 13, resulting in two million dimes–$200,000 USD–being stolen. The break-in occurred sometime after […]

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United States 1988-P Roosevelt Dime

Nine years after adopting the P mintmark, the Philadelphia Mint was on a roll. In fact, 1988 was the first year since 1967 that Philadelphia struck over one billion dimes, a 35% jump from 1987. To accommodate these increased production activities, the United States Mint hired 478 new employees, 196 of which were at the […]

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2022 US Mint Limited Edition Silver Proof Set Available October 26

The 2022 United States Mint Limited Edition Silver Proof Set will be available for purchase beginning on October 26 at noon EDT. Production is limited to 50,000 sets, with orders limited to one set per household for the first 24 hours of sales. Produced at the San Francisco Mint, this set includes the following Proof […]

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Mike Byers Mint Error News – 2018-P Roosevelt Dime Struck on a Steel Planchet

By Mike Byers for Mint Error News …… 2018-P Roosevelt Dime Struck on a Steel Planchet 98% Iron / 1.5 Grams PCGS MS 60 New Discovery   This is a fascinating new discovery. United States Roosevelt Dime off-metals are very rare. There are only a few known on copper or foreign aluminum planchets. This 2018 […]

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United States 1993-P Proof Roosevelt Dime

1993 marked one of the last years in the 20th century that the Philadelphia Mint would strike less than one trillion dimes. Included in the official mintage of 766,180,000 coins, the United States Mint sold a total of 1,297,431 Uncirculated Mint Sets in 1993. Despite the mintage figures, the modern Mint’s level of quality control […]

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United States 1993-P Roosevelt Dime

1993 marked one of the last years in the 20th century that the Philadelphia Mint would strike less than one trillion dimes. Included in the official mintage of 766,180,000 coins, the United States Mint sold a total of 1,297,431 Uncirculated Mint Sets in 1993. Despite the mintage figures, the modern Mint’s level of quality control […]

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United States 1987-S Roosevelt Dime

In celebration of the current San Francisco Mint’s 50th anniversary, an unprecedented 2,263 visitors were allowed to tour the building all while under heavy guard. The visitors were made to leave their pocket change, jewelry, belts, and shoes with security. All the while, the Mint was extremely busy. For in 1987, San Francisco was responsible […]

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Rare Modern US No Mint Mark Proof Coins

By Bullion Shark LLC …… Modern Proof coins that were struck at the San Francisco Mint, as most Proof coinage has been since 1968, normally bear an “S” mint mark. A small number of these coins have surfaced over the years that lack the mint mark, and they are among the greatest rarities of modern […]

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United States 1977-D Roosevelt Dime

On February 9, 1977, Frank H. MacDonald, then-Deputy Director of the United States Mint, announced that the Denver facility would cease production. Two days later, the branch mint in Colorado shut down. This was mainly due to the suspension of die cutting at the Philadelphia Mint on February 1 caused by the nationwide natural gas […]

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GreatCollections Offers Top Pop 1958 Proof Dime

GreatCollections is offering collectors the opportunity to win a stunning 1958 Deep Cameo PR 69 Roosevelt Dime in their current online auction. Bidding on this fully lustrous coin ends Sunday, May 8, 2022, at 5:05 PM Pacific Time (8:05 PM Eastern). This rare coin is a must for any collector of modern dimes. At the […]

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Single Finest Cameo Proof 1968 “No S” Dime Offered at GreatCollections

Bidding is now live on GreatCollections.com for the opportunity to acquire the single finest 1968 “No S” Cameo Proof Roosevelt dime graded as PR-69. As an interesting and historically important mint error, this conditionally unique coin would be the centerpiece for any numismatists’ collection of modern American coinage. Because there have only been 20 recorded […]

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United States 1989-D Roosevelt Dime

The choice to memorialize President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the dime, made shortly after his death in 1945, was a fitting one. Having served as president of the United States for 12 years from 1933 to 1945, he successfully led the nation through several of its most tumultuous periods, from the Great Depression to World […]

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United States 1972-D Roosevelt Dime

As the Roosevelt dime entered production in 1972, the design had served its statutorily-mandated minimum service life of 25 years. The four-term president was a fitting choice to replace Weinman’s Winged Liberty design in 1946, and sentiment about the longest-serving U.S. president remained high as the generation he led through the Great Depression and World […]

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United States 1949-S Roosevelt Dime

As one of the key dates of the series, the 1949-S Roosevelt dime is second in rarity only to the Philadelphia Mint’s 1955 mintage of 12,450,181 pieces. But with an issuance of 13,510,000 pieces, this coin is not exactly “rare”. However, it is one of the more interesting pieces from the series and commands something […]

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United States 1972-P Roosevelt Dime

As the Roosevelt dime entered production in 1972, the design had served its statutorily-mandated minimum service life of 25 years. The four-term president was a fitting choice to replace Weinman’s Winged Liberty design in 1946, and sentiment about the longest-serving U.S. president remained high as the generation he led through the Great Depression and World […]

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What Are Full Bands on Roosevelt Dimes?

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez for PCGS …… Roosevelt Dimes are among several series that are graded not only upon the basis of circulation wear but also depending on the presence of certain details that are recognized by special grading designation. In the case of the Roosevelt Dime, this special grade-related designation is known as Full Bands […]

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United States 1982-D Roosevelt Dime

Description President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s portrait on the dime was a fitting choice in 1946. He was a revered figure for many of the “Greatest Generation”: those who lived through the Great Depression (1929-39) and prevailed in World War II (1939-45). Though his administration was not without criticism (numismatists might lament his 1933 Executive Order […]

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CoinWeek Podcast #151: Collecting Modern U.S. Coins From Change

CoinWeek Podcast #151: Collecting Modern U.S. Coins From Change Mobile phone users. Stream this podcast for free by downloading the podomatic app or subscribe to the CoinWeek Podcast on iTunes. Charles Morgan and Chris Bulfinch start off this episode of the CoinWeek Podcast with a discussion of the quick sellout of the 2021-W American Silver Eagle Proof […]

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Modern Coin Rarities Explained – The 1975 “No S” Roosevelt Dime

By CoinWeek ….. A common question we receive from CoinWeek readers relates to the modern rarity 1975 “No S” Roosevelt dime. With only two examples known, this Proof issue is one of the most elusive and expensive modern coins issued by the United States Mint. And while CoinWeek believes it is possible that an additional […]

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Counterfeit Detection: 1963-D Roosevelt Dime with Altered Bands

Careful examination of this 1963-D Roosevelt Dime reveals an alteration to the torch Altered Roosevelt Dime By Numismatic Guaranty Corporation …… Coins are altered in a variety of ways for a number of different reasons. Some alterations may be unintentional, such as corrosion or altered color due to improper storage. Other alterations—altered dates or added […]

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What are the “Keys” to the Clad Roosevelt Dime Series?

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek …..   [Editor’s note: An earlier version of our analysis first appeared in the PCGS E-Zine newsletter of October 23, 2012. —CoinWeek] Eight years ago, we took a deep dive into the clad years of the Roosevelt dime series in search of a list of candidate coins […]

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The Roosevelt Dime – A Fitting Tribute, But Not Without Controversy

By David Thomason Alexander for CoinWeek ….. Most circulating United States coins have received both scrutiny and some negative press when first issued. The first 1793 cents were denounced for their Chain reverse, adapted from the earlier Fugio cents but held to be a poorly chosen symbol for its Liberty head obverse. John Reich’s buxom […]

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Roosevelt Dimes – History, Values and Some Key Dates: Bullion Shark

By Bullion Shark LLC …… Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the only U.S. president who served more than two terms in office, from 1932 to 1945. During that period, he took the country out of the Great Depression and guided it through most of World War II while also transforming the country in lasting ways […]

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Top Pop 1949-S Silver Roosevelt Dime Garners Over $10,000 at GreatCollections

By CoinWeek …. A Full Band, high Mint State 1949-S Roosevelt dime is one of the hardest coins in the Roosevelt silver series to collect, and an example that sold at GreatCollections.com on August 2 stands as proof of that statement. The sole top pop PCGS MS-68, which also happens to be a toner, went […]

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Coin Profile: United States 1982-P Roosevelt Dime

Description President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s portrait on the dime was a fitting choice in 1946. He was a revered figure for many of the “Greatest Generation”: those who lived through the Great Depression (1929-39) and prevailed in World War II (1939-45). Though his administration was not without criticism (numismatists might lament his 1933 Executive Order […]

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Record-breaking 1975 No S Proof dime quickly re-sold for $516,000

Auction purchase by Mitch Spivack, MonsterCoinMart’s Justin Spivack, and Steven Heller bought days later by avid collector
September 16, 2019 — The most valuable United States modern coin ever sold at auction, a 1975 Proof No S dime, changed hands twice in less than a week, both times for record prices.
The finer of the two known 1975 Proof dimes without the San Francisco “S” mint mark was jointly purchased on September 6, 2019, for $456,000 by modern coin specialist Mitch Spivack along with his son, Justin, owner of MonsterCoinMart in Orange County California, and with collector Steven Heller also as a partner on the deal

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Coin Finds: Luck plays a part

We recently asked you, our readers, to share your best numismatic finds with us. Based on the long-running “Coin Finds” column in Coins magazine, which will continue to appear in print, this online version will give additional exposure to the thrill of the hunt.
Send your “Coin Finds” to numismatics@fwmedia

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Q&A: Was the Roosevelt dime introduced in 1946 to commemorate the passing of the longest-serving president?

The following is excerpted from Clifford Mishler’s Coins: Questions & Answers:
Q: I have always held the opinion that the Roosevelt dime was introduced in 1946 to commemorate the passing from the scene of the president who had the longest tenure in the history of the country. Is this the accepted theory?
A: Popularity is greatness to one’s contemporaries, but not to history

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Over Two Centuries of U.S. Dimes Featured in New 4th Edition of Whitman’s MEGA RED

The fourth edition of MEGA RED (the Deluxe Edition of the Guide Book of United States Coins, also known as the “Red Book”) will officially debut April 10, 2018, with retail pre-orders being shipped on that date. The 1,504-page MEGA RED retails for $49.95 USD. It can be pre-ordered online and after April 10 will […]

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Q&A: Do Mercury and Roosevelt dimes display references to paganism and Joseph Stalin?

The following Q&A is excerpted from Clifford Mishler’s Coins: Questions & Answers, 5th edition:
Q: Can you explain the contradiction of the Mercury dime bearing both the portrait of a pagan god and a motto stating national trust in the Christian God?
A: There is no contradiction. “Mercury dime” is a misnomer, for the ancient god Mercury is not depicted on the coin

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Last chance Roosevelt dime: When to give up on grading

Coin collecting is a lot like gambling when you get lucky — as I did with this spectacular 1964 Roosevelt dime — won with a $27 bid in Capitol Coin Auction and which graded MS-67+, worth $750.
Here’s how it looked in the Proxibid auction:
Here’s the PCGS certification:

After that jackpot experience, I was intent on finding other high-grade Roosevelt dimes, believing I had the Midas-hobbyist touch

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United States Mint releases annual special occasion coin sets on January 11

Washington — The United States Mint will open sales for the 2018 versions of its popular special occasion sets starting on January 11, 2018, at noon Eastern Time (ET).
Designed to celebrate the arrival of a newborn, the 2018 United States Mint Birth Set (product code 18RD) features teddy-bear themed packaging with gender neutral colors

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The 1964 U.S. Proof and Uncirculated Sets heralded the first Kennedy half dollars

Given the fact that we are now celebrating the centenary anniversary of the birth of President John F. Kennedy, I thought it would be prudent to discuss the first sets from the Mint to include the Kennedy half dollar: the 1964 U

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The 1964 U.S. Proof Set heralded the first Kennedy half dollar

Given the fact that we are now celebrating the centenary anniversary of the birth of President John F. Kennedy, I thought it would be prudent to discuss the first Mint Set to include the Kennedy half dollar

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U.S. Mint News – Trump Nominates David Ryder as 39th Mint Director

Household order limits also lifted on the Mint’s 2017 Silver Proof Set By CoinWeek News Staff …. In a press release dating from from October 5, the White House announced that President Trump has nominated David J. Ryder for the position of Director of the United States Mint, a role that officially has went unfilled […]

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Resubmitting or living with grades

In my opinion, these beautifully toned Roosevelt dimes received low grades, MS-63 for the 1946-D and MS-62 for the 1947-D. You can go to the certifications and expand, and you’ll see more small marks on the cheek of the 1946-D than on the cheek of the 1947-D, which got the lower of the two grade

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Resubmitting or living with grades

In my opinion, these beautifully toned Roosevelt dimes received low grades, MS-63 for the 1946-D and MS-62 for the 1947-D. You can go to the certifications and expand, and you’ll see more small marks on the cheek of the 1946-D than on the cheek of the 1947-D, which got the lower of the two grade

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Whitman Publishing wants your Roosevelt dimes

(Pelham, Alabama) — Whitman Publishing is looking for sharp, high-resolution photographs of Roosevelt dimes, 1946 to date, including die varieties, to illustrate the fourth edition of MEGA RED (the Deluxe Edition of the Guide Book of United States Coins). Hobbyists who share their photographs will be credited in the book’s acknowledgments

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Counterfeit Detection: 1963-D Roosevelt Dime with Altered Bands

Careful examination of this 1963-D Roosevelt Dime reveals an alteration to the torch By Numismatic Guaranty Corporation …… Coins are altered in a variety of ways for a number of different reasons. Some alterations may be unintentional, such as corrosion or altered color due to improper storage. Other alterations—altered dates or added mintmarks—are attempts to […]

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U.S. Mint Limited Edition 2016 Silver Proof Set Available November 25

The 2016 United States Mint Limited Edition Silver Proof Set (product code 16RC) will be available for purchase beginning on November 25 at noon Eastern Time (ET). Priced at $139.95, this set includes the following proof quality coins: One American Eagle One Ounce Silver Proof Coin; Five America the Beautiful Quarters® Program Coins honoring Shawnee […]

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US Coins – Baltimore Whitman Expo & Stack’s Bowers Auction Underway

By Jim Bisognani – Numismatic Guaranty Corporation …….. 70th Anniversary Roosevelt Dimes offer variety and value. Golden nostalgia ahead in 2016. As winter slowly relinquishes its grip, and most of the country is enjoying the transition to spring, New England (it seems) is always a naysayer. I woke up the first full day of spring […]

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2015 U.S. Mint Silver Proof Set Available May 14

The 2015 United States Mint Silver Proof Set (product code SW2) will be available for purchase starting on May 14 at noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The set is priced at $53.95 and contains the following 14 coins from the United States Mint at San Francisco: Four Presidential $1 Coins honoring Harry S. Truman, Dwight […]

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Coin Analyst: Strong Demand for March of Dimes Special Silver Set

CoinWeek Staff Reports… The United States Mint 2015 March of Dimes Special Silver Set went on sale at 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) today, and within an hour of its release the coin set is already on backorder. Periodically checking up on the silver set’s product page at usmint.gov, the set’s backorder status was […]

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