Coin Collector Guide

1796–1807 The Draped Bust Dime, also called the Small Eagle design, was the first dime to be circulated in the United States. The 1796 dated Draped Bust Dime was actually minted in October of 1795 with a total ofonly 42,378 pieces being struck. This design for the dime continued through the year 1807, however, no dimes were struck for the years 1799 and 1806. The Draped Bust design was used on all U.S. silver coins beginning in 1796. All Draped Bust Dimes were struck at the Philadelphia Mint, so none of the coins bear a mintmark. The design for Lady Liberty for the obverse was taken from a drawing by Gilbert Stuart, of an actual woman, Ann Willing Bingham. Draped Bust Dimes struck in 1796 have 15 stars, one for each state that existed at the time. The obverse features the word “LIBERTY”...

1837 – 1891 The Seated Liberty Dime was designed by Christian Gobrecht and first minted in 1837. The obverse features Lady Liberty sitting on a rock, in her right hand she holds the Union Shield inscribed with the word “LIBERTY” and in her left hand she holds a long staff. The reverse side of the 1837 dime is very simple with “One Dime” in the center encircled by a laurel wreath which is tied at the bottom with a bow and the words “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” in an arc along the top. The 1837 issue was minted in two varieties; Large Date and Small Date. The Small Date variety is a little more rare than the Large Date. The easiest way to differentiate the two varieties is to look at the “3″ and “7″ in the date. Seated Liberty Dime Large...

1916 – 1930 The Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar was produced from 1916 to 1930, which was relatively short-lived for a coin, especially one of such nice design. It is interesting to note that no quarter dollars were minted in 1922. The coins were struck in; Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco (S), and Denver (D), with a total of over 226 million coins for all years and mintmarks combined. In its first year the obverse of the Standing Liberty Quarter featured a bare breasted Lady Liberty. In 1917 designer Hermon A. MacNeil was pressured to change the design. Perhaps the designer was making a statement when he changed the design by adding a coat of chain mail to Liberty’s breasts. MacNeil was a well known sculptor and had won the US Mints design competition for the new quarter. Standing...