2024 Roosevelt Dimes 1965 to Date MS66FB

History

Franklin D. Roosevelt has appeared on the ten-cent piece since 1946, the design having been prepared in-house at the Mint shortly after his death in 1945 and without an open competition, since the denomination could be changed by the Mint without congressional action. Roosevelt's association with the March of Dimes, formed during his years of illness from polio, made the denomination the natural choice. The 1965 to date designation marks a composition change rather than a new design: silver coinage of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper gave way to copper-nickel clad on a copper core. The 2024 issues arrived during a sharp contraction in circulating coin production, when the Mint delivered just over 5.613 billion coins to Federal Reserve Banks, a 50.7 percent drop from the 11.381 billion of 2023 and the lowest annual figure since 2009.

Details

John R. Sinnock designed both sides in 1946, and his work has continued in use without replacement. The clad planchet consists of an outer layer of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel bonded to a pure copper core, producing a coin of 2.268 grams and 17.91 millimeters with a reeded edge. Philadelphia struck this issue, with the P mint mark on the obverse above the date, a position used since 1968; Philadelphia dimes carried no mint mark at all before 1980. Dime output in 2024 fell to its lowest level since 2009, along with cents and nickels.

Features

The obverse carries a left-facing bust of Roosevelt with LIBERTY at the left, IN GOD WE TRUST below the chin, and the date and mint mark at the lower right. On the reverse a torch stands at center, flanked by an olive branch and an oak branch, with E PLURIBUS UNUM crossing the field and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DIME around the rim. The FB, or Full Bands, designation depends entirely on the torch, awarded when the horizontal bands across its middle show complete separation. Because modern Philadelphia dimes are struck at high speed and handled in bulk, well struck and unmarked examples are the scarce part of the equation rather than the coins themselves.

Notable facts

• The Philadelphia Mint produced 2,937,740,000 coins of all denominations in 2024, while Denver produced 2,675,900,000.
• Production and associated costs for the Roosevelt dime reached 5.76 cents per coin in fiscal 2024, up from 5.3 cents in fiscal 2023 and 5.03 cents in fiscal 2022.
• The 2009 production year, the last time output fell this low, saw 3.548 billion circulating coins struck.
• Silver Roosevelt dimes of 1946 through 1964 weighed 2.5 grams, slightly more than the 2.268 gram clad pieces that followed.
• Numismatic Guaranty Corporation uses the parallel designation Full Torch for the same strike quality that PCGS labels Full Bands.