What to Look for in Dime Rolls: Silver Roosevelts and Mercury Dimes

Silver Is the Prize

Dime rolls ($5.00 per roll, 50 coins) are hunted primarily for one thing: silver. All U.S. dimes minted in 1964 and earlier are 90% silver, and they still turn up in circulation. At current silver prices, a single pre-1965 dime contains approximately $4.84 in silver — nearly 50 times its face value.

Silver Roosevelt Dimes (1946-1964)

These are your most likely silver finds. The design is identical to modern Roosevelt dimes, so the only way to distinguish them is by:

Date: 1964 and earlier
Edge: Silver dimes have a solid silver edge with no copper core. Modern clad dimes show a visible copper stripe on the edge.
Sound: Silver dimes produce a distinctive high-pitched ring when dropped on a hard surface. Clad dimes produce a duller thud.

No Roosevelt dime dates are rare in the traditional sense — the lowest mintage is the 1955 at 12.8 million. However, any silver Roosevelt in uncirculated condition is worth $5-15+ depending on the date. Full Band (FB) specimens — where the horizontal bands on the torch are fully separated — command significant premiums in higher grades.

Mercury Dimes (1916-1945)

Finding a Mercury dime in a roll is increasingly rare but still happens. Key dates to watch:

1916-D — Mintage 264,000. Worth $500+ in Good condition. This is the key date of the series.
1921 and 1921-D — Semi-key dates worth $30-60 in Good.
1926-S — Worth $10-20 in Good.
1931-D and 1931-S — Lower mintages, worth $5-10 in Good.
Full Split Bands (FSB) — Like Full Steps on nickels, Mercury dimes with fully split horizontal bands on the fasces reverse command premiums.

Barber Dimes (1892-1916)

Extremely rare in rolls but not impossible. Any Barber dime found in circulation is worth saving — even heavily worn examples are worth $3-5+ for their silver content alone, and most collectors will pay a premium for the type.

Errors and Varieties

1942/1 Mercury Dime (Overdate) — Both Philadelphia and Denver versions exist. Worth $300-500 in Fine. The 2 is clearly punched over a 1.
1964-D Doubled Die Reverse — Worth $20-30.
Wrong planchet errors — A dime struck on a cent or foreign planchet is extremely valuable.
1982 No-P Roosevelt Dime — The Philadelphia Mint accidentally omitted the "P" mintmark. Worth $100-300 in circulated grades.

CRH Tips for Dime Rolls

Edge-sort first. Fan the coins on a flat surface and look at the edges. Silver dimes have no copper stripe — they stand out immediately against clad coins.
The "slide test": Slide coins across a table and listen. Silver coins slide with a different sound than clad.
Customer-wrapped rolls from older bank customers are more likely to contain silver. Rolls from coin-counting machines at grocery stores are thoroughly picked over.
Check every pre-1965 dime individually. Even common-date silver dimes are worth saving at current metal prices.

Explore Mercury Dimes and Roosevelt Dimes in the NumisDex catalog.