What one Roosevelt dime is worth in silver
One Roosevelt dime contains 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver, from a coin weighing 2.5 grams at 900 parts per thousand. At the current benchmark that metal is worth $4.62. The benchmark behind it was set on , and every figure on this page moves with it.
| How many | Face value | Pure silver | Melt value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $0.10 | 0.0723 ozt | $4.62 |
| 10 | $1.00 | 0.7234 ozt | $46.18 |
| 20 | $2.00 | 1.4468 ozt | $92.36 |
| 50 | $5.00 | 3.6170 ozt | $230.91 |
| 100 | $10.00 | 7.2339 ozt | $461.81 |
What the coin is
Roosevelt dimes struck from 1946 to 1964 weigh 2.5 grams at 90% silver, holding 0.07234 troy ounces of pure silver. That is the identical specification to the Mercury dime and to every US dime going back to 1873, so the design on the coin makes no difference at all to its metal value.
The series began in 1946, the year after Franklin Roosevelt’s death, and the connection to the March of Dimes campaign he founded is why the dime was the denomination chosen. John R. Sinnock designed it, and his initials JS on the truncation of the neck caused a brief and entirely baseless rumour that they stood for Joseph Stalin.
From 1965 the dime went copper-nickel clad and the silver stopped. The date is the only test that matters, with the edge as confirmation: clad shows a copper stripe, silver does not. Silver proof sets from 1992 onward contain 90% silver dimes again, but those come in sealed collector packaging and are not found in change.
Is it worth more than its metal?
This is the series with the fewest surprises. Mintages were high throughout, the coins were saved in quantity, and there is no equivalent of the 1916-D. The closest thing to a key date is the 1949-S, and it commands only a modest premium in circulated grades.
Full Torch designation is the condition premium here, the equivalent of Full Split Bands on the Mercury dime. On a fully struck uncirculated coin the horizontal bands on the torch show complete separation, and certified examples of the scarcer dates in that condition are worth real money.
The 1996-W, struck at West Point for the fiftieth anniversary and included only in that year’s mint set, is the one genuinely scarce Roosevelt. It is a clad coin, so it has no silver value at all, and its worth is entirely in its collectability.
Selling it
Treat a jar of pre-1965 Roosevelt dimes as junk silver and sell it by face value. There is no meaningful sorting to do and no realistic chance of finding a rarity, which makes this the simplest silver sale there is: count the face value, multiply by 0.715 troy ounces per dollar, and compare offers as a percentage of that.
Mixing Roosevelt and Mercury dimes in one lot costs you nothing, because they hold identical silver and dealers price them together. The only coins to pull out are anything uncirculated and anything dated before 1946, which is a Mercury and worth a second look.
Melt, resale and appraisal value sets out why those three numbers differ for the same object, and how we calculate shows every constant used on this page.
Roosevelt dime questions
How much silver is in a Roosevelt dime?
Coins dated 1946 to 1964 hold 0.07234 troy ounces of pure silver, from 2.5 grams at 90% fineness. Dimes from 1965 onward are copper-nickel clad and contain none.
Are silver Roosevelt dimes rare?
No. Mintages were high across the whole silver run and the coins were widely saved. The 1949-S carries a small premium and there is no key date comparable to the 1916-D Mercury dime.
What is the 1996-W dime worth?
It is the scarcest Roosevelt dime, issued only in that year’s mint set, but it is a clad coin with no silver content. Its value is collector demand alone, so do not price it with the silver figures on this page.
Do silver dimes still exist in circulation?
Very rarely. They were pulled out of circulation within a few years of 1965 as silver rose above face value. Finding one in change today is unusual enough to be worth keeping.