1892–1916
The Barber dime was designed by Charles E. Barber and first minted in 1892. Barber was Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint at that time. The Barber dime was minted of 90% silver and 10% copper and used the same design as the half dollar and quarter dollar.
The Barber dime displays Lady Liberty on the obverse with a Phrygian cap encircled with a laurel wreath and a ribbon. The inscription on the headband reads “LIBERTY”. The reverse was a very simple design consisting of a wreath around the words “One Dime”. Mint marks, if present, appear at the bottom below the ribbon that ties the wreath.
The rarest Barber dime is the 1894-S. Only 24 of these coins were minted and of those only 9 are currently known to still exist. In 2007 an 1894-S Barber dime was sold for a whopping 1.9 million dollars!
Barber dimes are composed of 90% silver but their value comes from more than just the intrinsic metal, especially in higher grades. Barber dimes and coins in general were used heavily during the late 1800s and early 1900s so well circulated coins are much more common than those in high grades. With many dates/mintmarks even a coin graded at Fine can be difficult to locate and costly. Even the common dates in well circulated conditions are worth significantly more than their silver content when compared to Winged Liberty / Mercury dimes and pre-1965 Roosevelt dimes.
Also keep in mind that with heavily worn examples the weights and measurements may be lower than those cited below:
Barber Dime Specifications:
- Designer: Charles E. Barber
- Diameter: 17.9 mm
- Weight: 2.50 g
- Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper
- Edge: Reeded
- Net Weight: 2.25 g pure silver
By D. Slone, Copyright 2011 CoinCollectorGuide.com
Barber Dime Mintage Numbers
| 1892 12,120,000 1892-O 3,841,700 1892-S 990,710 1893 3,340,000 1893-O 1,760,000 1893-S 2,491,401 1894 1,330,000 1894-O 720,000 1895 690,000 1895-O 440,000 1895-S 1,120,000 1896 2,000,000 1896-O 610,000 1896-S 575,056 1897 10,868,533 1897-O 666,000 1897-S 1,342,844 1898 16,320,000 1898-O 2,130,000 1898-S 1,702,507 1899 19,850,000 1899-O 2,650,000 1899-S 1,867,493 1900 17,600,000 1900-O 2,010,000 1900-S 5,168,270 |
1901 18,859,665 1901-O 5,620,000 1901-S 593,022 1902 21,380,000 1902-O 4,500,000 1902-S 2,070,000 1903 19,500,000 1903-O 8,180,000 1903-S 613,300 1904 14,600,357 1904-S 800,000 1905 14,551,623 1905-O 3,400,000 1905-S 6,855,199 1906 19,957,731 1906-D 4,060,000 1906-O 2,610,000 1906-S 3,136,640 1907 22,220,000 1907-D 4,080,000 1907-O 5,058,000 1907-S 3,178,470 1908 10,600,000 1908-D 7,490,000 1908-O 1,789,000 1908-S 3,220,000 |
1909 10,240,000 1909-D 954,000 1909-O 2,287,000 1909-S 1,000,000 1910 11,520,000 1910-D 3,490,000 1910-S 1,240,000 1911 18,870,000 1911-D 11,209,000 1911-S 3,520,000 1912 19,349,300 1912-D 11,760,000 1912-S 3,420,000 1913 19,760,000 1913-S 510,000 1914 17,360,230 1914-D 11,908,000 1914-S 2,100,000 1915 5,620,000 1915-S 960,000 1916 18,490,000 1916-S 5,820,000 |
The Barber series. Love it. I only have one dime. It has a huge dent in it. I like it for that reason. I wonder how it got that dent. It looks like someone tried to drill a hole in it, but gave up. Imagination. Maybe someone was a hobo or something, on a train, and tried to put a hole in it, for a necklace. What is the history of putting holes in coins? I know there are a lot of them out there, with holes; especially 19th century coins.
I was wondering how much i could get for a 1915 barber dime (without a letter on it). I’d also like to know how much I could get for a 1957 Franklin half dollar. As well as what i could get for all sorts of other coins.
Hello David – Before anyone could make an estimation on what they would sell for they would have to know the grade (condition) of the coin.I would recommend taking a look at sites like eBay and others to see what a certain coin is actually selling for. I just checked out “1915 barber dime” and saw them selling for anywhere from $10 to $35 depending upon the condition.
Coin Price Guides are handy and can give you a general idea but when silver prices are changing so much, as they have been lately, a price guide can’t keep up with the actual values.
Today a Franklin half contains around $13.50 in silver. If yours is in a lower grade then it would probably sale for around $16 to 18 or better. If it is in a higher grade it would command more.
Thanks for the info. But what suprises me is when i look at coins like these the deeper i dig on internet sites I’ll see the same coin that’s supposed to be only $4 go up to $485. An example of that is my 1915 barber dime in very fine condition. I read online that a coin collector would easily pay up to something like $485 for it. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just disappointed. I have some mercury dimes, and I looked them up a year or two ago, and individual ones were selling for arount $8,000 and $9,000. Could you explain the confusion? And I’ve now read about the 1894-s, which i don’t have…but do you know anything about the 1895-o barber dime (which i don’t have). And thanks again for the info. Oh, and what about an 1897 indian head penny (which i do have) or an 1897 morgan silver dollar (which i know of someone that has). Thank you.
The price any certain coin will bring depends upon the grade. There can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of difference between the same exact date and mint mark.
I have bought a few Barber dimes myself over the years and have never paid over $10 for one BUT now that silver has more than doubled in value those dimes are selling for more.
I suggest that you do a google search and click on “shopping” results. Then you will see what those coins are actually selling for and not what someone says that may be worth.
I have also bought quite a few Indian Head cents from the late 1800s and I generally pay around 3 to 6 bucks each for them – although if you were to buy one in mint state or near mint it would be higher.
I have a question on a Barber dime that I have. It is a 1912, and I don’t see any letter next to the year. This coin is definitely not silver, but gold. It is not a dark gold, but more of a yellow gold. I have looked around the internet for pricing, but I cannot find a listing for a gold Barber. Can you provide me with some insight on this coin? It is is fairly worn, but you can clearly read the lettering on both sides.
Hi, I have an 1894 Barber Dime, but it is in very worn condition. I wanted to find out if the mint mark is worn off, is there anything way of finding out the mint or if it ever had one?
Hi Kathie. I have a worn 1894 Barber, too. Let me know if you found anything out. We all have 1894 fever after this big sale for 2 mill.