Roosevelt Dime Melt Value (1946 to 1964)

A silver Roosevelt dime, meaning any dime dated 1946 through 1964, contains 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver. Its melt value is 0.0723 multiplied by the current spot price; dimes dated 1965 or later are copper-nickel clad and contain no silver.

The specification is the same as every 90 percent US dime: 2.50 grams gross, 90 percent silver, 0.0723 troy ounces of pure metal. Because the Roosevelt series spans the 1964 silver cutoff, the date does all the work: 1946 to 1964 is silver, 1965 onward is clad. There are no in-between years and no exceptions in circulation coinage, which makes silver Roosevelts the easiest junk silver to sort. Compare all denominations on the silver coin melt values table, or value any quantity with the junk silver calculator.

The choice was deliberate and immediate. Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April 1945, and the dime was selected to honor him because of his personal fight with polio and his role in founding the March of Dimes, the charity that collected dimes from millions of Americans to fund polio research and patient care. Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock prepared the design, and the first Roosevelt dimes were struck at Philadelphia on January 19, 1946, entering circulation on January 30, Roosevelt's birthday. The design replaced Weinman's Mercury dime and is still on the dime today, making it one of the longest-running designs in US coinage. For bullion purposes the series splits cleanly in two: the 1946 to 1964 issues in 90 percent silver, and everything after the Coinage Act of 1965 in copper-nickel clad. The silver issues were minted in enormous quantities, which is why they are the workhorse of the junk silver market and generally carry the lowest premiums of any 90 percent coin.

The table multiplies one silver dime's 0.0723 ounces by round spot prices. A useful mental shortcut: a silver dime is worth about 7 percent of whatever one ounce of silver costs.

These specifications apply to the 1946 to 1964 silver issues only. Clad dimes from 1965 onward weigh 2.27 grams and contain no silver.

Fewer than in most classic series, which is exactly why stackers like them. The silver Roosevelt series has no rarities on the order of a 1916-D Mercury: mintages were large in nearly every year, so the overwhelming majority of circulated examples trade as bullion at melt plus the smallest premium in the junk silver market. Collector value concentrates in high-grade uncirculated coins, especially those with fully struck bands on the reverse torch (graded Full Bands or Full Torch), and in proof issues from the 1950s. A handful of semi-key dates from the late 1940s and early 1950s bring modest premiums in better grades. Practical takeaway: sorting circulated Roosevelts by date rarely pays; sorting out mint-state coins occasionally does. Price the silver first with the live melt figure above, and see typical junk silver premium ranges on our coin premium tracker.