1796 Draped Bust Dime

The story of the 1796

1796 was the first year of the Draped Bust Dime. Philadelphia struck 22,135 of them. In 1797 the figure was 25,261.

No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1796 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1800 (21,760) and the 1797 (25,261).

Across Philadelphia's 10 Draped Bust Dime issues, the hardest to find is the 1804 with 8,265 made. The 1796 is on the scarcer side of the middle.

More on the 1796

The 1796 is the first dime of the United States Mint. Philadelphia delivered 22,135, all with fifteen stars around Liberty and the small eagle on the reverse. The next year the star count changed, so the fifteen star small eagle dime belongs to 1796 alone.

Collectors prize the 1796 both as a first year and as one of only two small eagle dates. It is a significant rarity in every grade. Most known examples are worn and many show adjustment marks from planchets filed to the right weight before striking. Weak spots on the eagle and the stars are also common, since the dies were struck by hand on a screw press. Check the date, the stars and the eagle on its clouds, then examine the edge for even reeding. Look for holes, plugs and tooling, which were often hidden on old coins. Counterfeits of first year coins exist, so authentication by a grading service is a sensible step.

The first dimes and the small eagle (1796 to 1797)

The first American dimes were struck in 1796. Robert Scot's Draped Bust portrait, already used on other silver coins, shows Liberty with her hair tied by a ribbon and drapery at her shoulder. The reverse has a small eagle perched on clouds inside a wreath. There is no denomination anywhere on the coin. The portrait is traditionally said to follow a drawing by Gilbert Stuart, though that link is not documented. Users recognized the dime by its size and weight, 2.70 grams of silver 0.8924 fine and about 19 millimeters across.

Philadelphia struck 22,135 dimes dated 1796, all with fifteen stars on the obverse. In 1797 it made 25,261. Some 1797 coins have sixteen stars, one added for Tennessee, which had joined the Union in 1796. The Mint soon realized it could not keep adding stars, so other 1797 coins have thirteen stars, one for each original state.

These two dates are the only Draped Bust dimes with the small eagle reverse, which makes them important type coins. Both are significant rarities. Most survivors are worn and many have damage, holes or cleaning. The coins were struck one at a time on a screw press and planchets were often filed to the correct weight before striking. Those fine parallel file lines, called adjustment marks, are a sign of the period and are not damage. Count the stars, check the eagle and look for repairs.

Elsewhere in US coinage in 1796

The first quarter dollars, dimes and $2.50 quarter eagles were struck in 1796, completing the denominations authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The Draped Bust design reached the cent and the smaller silver coins the same year.