DC-10c-1964D-01 Die Chip

Description

First die chip documented for the 1964 Denver Mint Roosevelt Dime, this variety captures a small raised bump on the coin created when a fragment of die steel broke away, leaving a void that filled with metal during striking. The 1964-D Roosevelt Dime holds immense numismatic significance as the final year of 90% silver composition for circulating U.S. dimes — the Coinage Act of 1965 would transition dimes to copper-nickel clad composition, making 1964 the end of an era that stretched back to the earliest days of American coinage. Denver struck over 1.35 billion dimes in 1964, an astronomical quantity driven partly by coin hoarding as the public anticipated the composition change, and this enormous production volume consumed thousands of die pairs that were subject to all forms of die deterioration including chips. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins with no known cross-reference number, DC-10c-1964D-01 establishes the baseline die chip entry for this historically important date. John R. Sinnock's Roosevelt Dime design, introduced in 1946 to honor President Franklin D. Roosevelt following his death in 1945, features relatively sparse design elements compared to the Lincoln Memorial Cent — but die chips can occur anywhere on the die face, and each distinct position warrants separate documentation in the die variety catalog.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Brian Bassler
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References