1871

Philadelphia delivered 907,710 business-strike dimes in 1871, the first parent-mint dime delivery above 900,000 since the early 1850s and a clear sign that Reconstruction-era silver production was returning to peacetime baselines. The year also marked the first appearance of a Carson City dime, with the Comstock branch beginning dime coinage in 1871 after a full year of striking only gold, and the calendar produced the only three-mint Seated dime issue of the Reconstruction period when San Francisco's separate run is counted alongside the Philadelphia and Carson City output. The 907,710 figure represented commercial-volume production rather than a numismatic landmark and supplied the working dime demand that finally pushed past Civil War levels.

Strike on the 1871 follows standard Philadelphia practice for the Legend obverse subtype, with the central devices typically well brought up on the wreath reverse and the recurring softness when present gathering on the upper-obverse legend where UNITED STATES OF AMERICA arches above Liberty. The Legend obverse format opened in 1860 replaced the thirteen stars Gobrecht's original design had carried since the late 1830s, and the dime continued without an IN GOD WE TRUST motto because the planchet was too small to accept the ribbon banner that arrived on the larger silver denominations in 1866. Authentication rests on the 2.49-gram weight under the Coinage Act of February 21, 1853, a 17.9-millimeter reeded planchet, the Legend obverse, and the plain wreath reverse with no mintmark. PCGS and NGC populations are broad through circulated grades from Good to Extremely Fine, About Uncirculated examples turn up in regular supply, and Mint State coins are available with patience.

The 1871 trades as a regular-issue parent-mint date suited to date-set acquisition at modest certified pricing, with the price ladder remaining shallow through About Uncirculated and rising more steeply only at the gem Mint State level. Raw circulated pieces are widely available and broadly safe given the parent-mint origin. For the broader story of Gobrecht's design, the Civil War-era production, and the Carson City Mint, see the Seated Liberty Dime series history.