Dimes are my habit. I always look at the edge my dimes. See, before 1965 dimes were minted out of silver. You can tell a silver dime by looking at the edge. If its solid, it’s silver. Post 1965 dimes have an edge that shows half copper and half nickel. The actual composition of a post 1965 dime (and quarter) is 75% copper and 25% nickel due to the Coinage Act of 1965. Coincidentally, a few 1965 dimes were accidentally minted in silver and those errors bring a fine price to a collector.
As a child, I fancied myself a coin collector (but didn’t we all). As an adult, when the hard times came my coin collection bought bread or gas without even the effort of looking for a doubled die error. What remains are the oddities. I have 3 silver dimes including a Mercury head from 1939 and two Roosevelts from 1952 and 1964. They are not in mint condition but they sure are cool to hold! And I can still remember the excitement I felt the day I found one of them in my change.
What’s in your pocket?
