1959-D Roosevelt Dime
Circulation strike struck at the Denver Mint · 164,919,790 made
- Mintage
- 164,919,790
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 2.5 g
- Diameter
- 17.91 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1959-D Roosevelt Dime worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.0723 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Full torch bands (FT)
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1959-D Roosevelt Dime rare?
- Not by date: 165 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Is the 1959-D Roosevelt Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1959 Roosevelt Dime?
- On the reverse, to the left of the torch's base. On this coin the mark is D, for Denver.
- Which Denver dates near 1959 are scarcer?
- The 1955-D at 13,959,000, the 1954-D at 106,397,000, the 1956-D at 108,015,100, plus 2 more. So the 1959-D is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1959-D Roosevelt Dime coins were made?
- 164,919,790.
What to check on your 1959-D
- Make sure the mint mark really is a D. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1959 (86 million made).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1959 Roosevelt Dime Proof (1,149,291 made) is the one to compare with.
- Judge the grade under good light. Check the horizontal bands on the torch on the reverse. "Full Bands" (FB) coins, where the bands are complete and separated, carry big premiums. On the obverse look at Roosevelt's hair above the ear.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value.
The story of the 1959-D
Denver made 164,919,790 in 1959, up from 137 million in 1958. In 1960 the figure was 200 million.
1959 came to 86 million, so neither mint's 1959 coin is much scarcer than the other.
Across Denver's 77 Roosevelt Dime issues, the hardest to find is the 1955-D with 13,959,000 made. The 1959-D is on the scarcer side of the middle. No Roosevelt Dime of the 1950s had a bigger run.
Rising output and the last silver dimes (1956 to 1964)
From 1956 only Philadelphia and Denver struck dimes for circulation and their combined output climbed almost every year. Denver passed 200 million in 1960 and reached about 421 million in 1963 as vending machines, a growing population and a national coin shortage drove demand. The 1958 Philadelphia issue of about 31.9 million is the smallest of these years.
The 1964 dimes broke every record, with more than 2.2 billion struck at the two mints. Rising silver prices led the Treasury to keep striking coins dated 1964 well into 1965 so that hoarders could not single out a final silver date. Proof dimes from the Philadelphia sets of these years are plentiful, though a 1960 proof with a doubled die obverse is a known variety. Every dime of the era is 90 percent silver, so even worn pieces are collected for their metal.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1959
The Lincoln Memorial reverse replaced the wheat ears on the cent to mark the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.
How to recognize it
Franklin Roosevelt faces left with LIBERTY in front of him, IN GOD WE TRUST below his chin and the date at the lower right. The designer's initials JS sit below the neck. The reverse shows a torch flanked by an olive branch and an oak branch, with E PLURIBUS UNUM across the field. The mint mark was to the left of the torch base until 1964 and has been above the date since 1968.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Roosevelt Dime (1946–present) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1959 |
| Mint | Denver Mint |
| Mint mark | "D" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 164,919,790 |
| Face value | 10¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 2.5 grams |
| Diameter | 17.91 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0723 troy oz (2.250 g) |
| Designer | John R. Sinnock |
Other 1959 Roosevelt Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 Roosevelt Dime | 85,780,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
| 1959 Roosevelt Dime Proof | 1,149,291 | Proof | 0.0723 oz |
| 1959-D Roosevelt Dime | 164,919,790 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
Mintage: Roosevelt dime mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.