Barber Dime Value Chart: Every Date From 1892 to 1916

The dates to check first

These are the lowest-mintage Barber dimes struck for circulation. If you're sorting a jar or an inherited collection, pull these dates out before anything else and check the mint mark carefully.

1. 1894-S Barber Dime: 24 made.
2. 1895-O Barber Dime: 440,000 made.
3. 1913-S Barber Dime: 510,000 made.
4. 1896-S Barber Dime: 575,056 made.
5. 1901-S Barber Dime: 593,022 made.
6. 1896-O Barber Dime: 610,000 made.

Every barber dime by date and mint

Click any date for its full page: how many were made, the mint mark location, varieties and what to check. Mint marks matter: the same year can be common from one mint and scarce from another.

The series in 6 stages

A new design at three mints (1892 to 1893)

Charles E. Barber's Liberty head replaced the Seated Liberty dime in 1892, after an open design competition in 1891 failed to produce anything the Mint would accept. The Chief Engraver's portrait went on the quarter and half dollar the same year. Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco all struck dimes from the start, with the mint mark placed below the bow of the wreath on the reverse.

Hard times and the rarest dimes (1894 to 1897)

Demand for new coins was weak during the depression of the mid-1890s and Barber dime mintages show it. Philadelphia struck 1,330,000 in 1894, 690,000 in 1895 and 2,000,000 in 1896 before rebounding to 10,868,533 in 1897. New Orleans never reached a million in these four years, with 720,000 in 1894, 440,000 in 1895, 610,000 in 1896 and 666,000 in 1897. San Francisco made 1,120,000 in 1895 and 1,342,844 in 1897, so its coins of those years are scarce but not keys.

Big Philadelphia runs and two San Francisco semi-keys (1898 to 1903)

Prosperity returned at the end of the decade. Philadelphia struck between 16,320,000 and 21,380,000 dimes every year from 1898 to 1903 and New Orleans reached 8,180,000 in 1903. Across the six years the three mints made 150,614,257 Barber dimes, so most dates from this stretch are easy to find in worn condition and make good, inexpensive fillers for an album. Proofs were struck every year in small numbers, between 735 and 912 a year in this stretch. They are listed on their own pages.

Denver arrives and four mints at once (1904 to 1908)

New Orleans struck no dimes in 1904, leaving Philadelphia (14,600,357) and San Francisco (800,000) to cover the year. The 1904-S is the lowest mintage of the period and a better date in every grade. New Orleans returned in 1905 with 3,400,000, a run that includes a variety with an unusually small mint mark, the 1905-O Micro O.

New Orleans bows out (1909 to 1912)

The New Orleans Mint struck its last dimes in 1909, a run of 2,287,000. New Orleans never struck coins again. Denver's 1909 output was only 954,000, the lowest Denver figure of the series, while San Francisco made exactly 1,000,000. Those three coins are the better dates of the period and each brings more than the Philadelphia dates in any grade.

The 1913-S and the last Barber dimes (1913 to 1916)

Philadelphia kept production high in the final years, striking 19,760,000 in 1913, 17,360,230 in 1914 and 18,490,000 in 1916, with a dip to 5,620,000 in 1915. Denver struck Barber dimes only in 1914, a run of 11,908,000. It made none in 1913, 1915 or 1916. Across the four years the mints made 82,528,230 Barber dimes.

Decade by decade

• 1890s: 24 issues, 89 million coins. Scarcest: 1894-S (24).
• 1900s: 33 issues, 248 million coins. Scarcest: 1901-S (593,022).
• 1910s: 18 issues, 167 million coins. Scarcest: 1913-S (510,000).

Where to find the mint mark

• 1892 to 1916: On the reverse, below the bow of the wreath. Philadelphia dimes have no mint mark.

Identifying and grading Barber dimes

LIBERTY on the headband is the benchmark: all seven letters must be clear for Fine and above.

Barber's Liberty faces right, her hair gathered under a Phrygian cap and crowned with a laurel wreath. A narrow band above her forehead carries the word LIBERTY in tiny letters and that band is the first detail to wear away. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA circles the portrait with the date below. Unlike the Barber quarter and half dollar, the dime has no stars and no IN GOD WE TRUST, because there was simply no room for the motto. The reverse was carried over from the last Seated Liberty dimes: a wreath of corn, wheat, maple and oak leaves, tied with a bow at the bottom, around the words ONE DIME. Branch mint coins show an O, S or D just below the bow. The coin is 17.9 mm across, weighs 2.5 grams and has a reeded edge.

What the value bands mean

• Face value: worth its face in worn condition; only uncirculated coins and varieties carry a premium.
• Metal value: worth its silver content in worn condition.
• Small premium: sells for a little over face or metal value even when worn.
• Collector premium: scarcer than usual, so worn coins sell well above face or metal value.
• Significant rarity: a key date, valuable in any condition and often faked.

Bands describe a coin in ordinary circulated condition. An uncirculated coin with full original luster sits a band or more higher. Recognized varieties can be worth far more than the date itself.