1792 Dime Pattern - J-10

Coin Details

Auction Record

$900,000 • SP62BN • 08-31-2022 • Stack's Bowers

Description

Cataloged as Judd-10 (Pollock-11, High R.6), the 1792 copper disme pattern is one of the great rarities of early American coinage. The obverse portrays Liberty facing left, her hair arranged in nine flowing locks with bold, rounded features. The date 1792 appears below the bust with the serif of the 1 touching the bust truncation, and the remaining digits progressively more widely spaced. The legend LIBERTY PARENT OF SCIENCE AND INDUS. Runs clockwise around the border, with a tiny center dot positioned on the back of the head just below the ear serving as a key die diagnostic. The reverse depicts an eagle with outstretched wings floating in the field, looking over its left wing toward the viewer's right. Below the eagle is the denomination DISME — the original French-derived spelling that was standard in the 1790s — with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the periphery. The eagle's right wingtip joins the left serif of the T in UNITED, while the left wingtip touches the base of the E in AMERICA. Copper dismes are known with both plain and reeded edges, though the order of production remains undocumented. These copper strikings served as die trials or pattern pieces, distinct from the silver dismes that were produced in small quantities for circulation. The 1792 disme holds a special place in American monetary history as one of the first denominations struck under the authority of the new federal government, produced even before the Philadelphia Mint building was fully operational.