Draped Bust Dimes (1796–1807)

The First Dime

The dime did not exist until 1796. Although the Coinage Act of 1792 had authorized a ten-cent piece as part of the decimal monetary system, and although the Mint had been producing copper cents and half cents since 1793 and silver half dollars, dollars, and half dimes since 1794 and 1795, no dimes were struck until three years after the denomination was legally created. The reasons were partly practical, as the Mint's pressing priorities lay with the larger silver coins and the coppers, and partly a consequence of the same production problems that had intermittently disrupted other denominations. When dimes did appear in 1796, they carried the same Draped Bust obverse that the Mint had just introduced across the silver series, and the same Small Eagle reverse that appeared on the other silver coins of that moment.¹

The obverse design, executed by Chief Engraver Robert Scot from a drawing attributed to portraitist Gilbert Stuart, depicts Liberty facing right with hair tied loosely at the back with a ribbon, her shoulders and neckline draped with rippled cloth. LIBERTY appears above and the date below. The portrait is traditionally said to have been drawn from or inspired by Philadelphia socialite Ann Willing Bingham, wife of Pennsylvania senator William Bingham and one of the most celebrated women of the era. Recent scholarship has questioned the extent of Stuart's direct involvement with the coin dies, with Scot and assistant John Eckstein possibly bearing more of the execution than convention has credited. The attribution question remains open; the tradition is well-established and the specific portrait evidence is not conclusive in either direction.²

No denomination appeared on the dime, nor would one until the Capped Bust design arrived in 1809. Citizens identified its value by size, weight, and composition, in the standard convention of the era. The coin measured 19 millimeters in diameter and weighed 2.69 grams in an alloy of 89.24 percent silver and 10.76 percent copper.

Type 1: The Small Eagle Reverse (1796–1797)

The Small Eagle reverse on the first dimes showed a modest bird perched on a cloud within an open wreath, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA arcing around the perimeter. It is the same motif that appeared on the Draped Bust half dime, half dollar, and dollar of the same years, consistent with the Mint's policy that all silver denominations share a common design. Contemporary opinion found the eagle unimpressive, described as lacking the heraldic authority expected of a national emblem, and Robert Scot replaced it in 1798 with a version derived from the Great Seal.

The 1796 Small Eagle dime had a mintage of approximately 22,135 pieces, some struck in early 1797 from 1796-dated dies. The coin carries fifteen stars on the obverse, one for each state then in the Union. The 1797 Small Eagle dime, with approximately 25,261 pieces, presents a two-variety star-count situation: early 1797 dimes carry 16 stars, reflecting Tennessee's admission in June 1796 before the Mint's policy changed; later 1797 dimes carry 13 stars after Mint Director Elias Boudinot decreed that all coins would return to the original thirteen. The 1797 dime exists in only these two varieties: 16-star (JR-1) and 13-star (JR-2). Both 1796 and 1797 dimes in any condition represent genuinely scarce early American silver, with populations measured in hundreds across the combined dates.³

The Star Count Policy and the 1798 Standardization

The star-field problem had been building since Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792) pushed the total above the original thirteen, and Tennessee's admission in 1796 added a sixteenth. Each new state had received a star on the coinage; continuing indefinitely was plainly unsustainable. Mint Director Boudinot resolved the question by decree: henceforth all coins would carry the original thirteen stars. The 1797 dimes show this transition in process, with 16-star examples struck before the policy change and 13-star examples struck after. The 1798 Heraldic Eagle dimes standardized at thirteen obverse stars, seven left and six right, and that count held through the series' end in 1807.⁴

Type 2: The Heraldic Eagle Reverse (1798–1807)

The Heraldic Eagle reverse introduced in 1798 brought the full iconographic program of the Great Seal to the dime. At center stands an eagle with wings outstretched, the Union Shield on its breast, E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon in its beak, thirteen arrows and an olive branch in its talons. Above arcs a cloud bank beneath which a group of stars is arranged. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the full perimeter. Scot adapted the design from the version he had already applied to other silver denominations and to the gold quarter eagle in 1796; the fundamental heraldic motif was consistent across denominations, though specific die work and star counts varied by year and coin.

Dimes were not produced bearing the dates 1799 or 1806, two gap years in an otherwise continuous run. The combined total mintage of the Heraldic Eagle type across its production years was approximately 422,010 pieces, making the entire Draped Bust dime series both types together one of the smallest in American numismatic history by production volume.⁵

The 1798/7 Overdate and the Shared Reverse Dies

The 1798 Heraldic Eagle dimes present an unusual reverse variety situation. The coins appear with either 16 stars or 13 stars above the eagle on the reverse. The explanation is different from the obverse star-count problem: the Mint found that the gold quarter eagle and the dime were close enough in diameter that reverse dies could be used interchangeably between the two denominations. In the interest of economizing on die preparation, 16-star reverse dies made for the quarter eagle were used to strike dimes. The 13-star reverse dimes were struck from dies prepared specifically for the dime. This die-sharing practice between two denominations of different nominal value is believed to be unique in regular American coinage. The 1798/7 overdate, in which a 7 from a previous year's die is visible beneath the 8 in the date, exists in both the 13-star and 16-star reverse varieties.⁶

The 1802 Dime: A Quiet Rarity

The 1802 dime had a mintage of approximately 10,975 pieces, the lowest of any date in the Heraldic Eagle type and among the lowest regular-issue mintages in the denomination's history. Unlike the corresponding 1802 half dime, whose rarity has been celebrated in numismatic literature since the nineteenth century, the 1802 dime attracts less attention in general collector literature, partly because most buyers approaching this type do so for a type set rather than a date set, and a common 1807 serves that purpose as readily as a scarce 1802. For the date specialist, however, the 1802 dime is a genuine rarity in any grade above Fine, and examples in Extremely Fine or better condition are essentially unknown. Bowers has called the 1802 a sleeper precisely because its conditional rarity has not been priced into the market the way a more famous rarity would be.⁷

The 1800, 1801, and 1803 dates are similarly rare in high grades, though their individual situations differ. The 1803 is particularly striking: Davis, Logan, Lovejoy, McCloskey, and Subjack's Early United States Dimes 1796–1837 estimated that at most ten 1803 dimes exist in full Extremely Fine condition or better. The 1804 dimes are encountered with somewhat more frequency in circulated grades, though uncirculated 1804 dimes appear essentially never in the auction record.

The 1804 Fourteen-Star Reverse

Approximately one-third of all 1804 dimes appearing in the market carry a reverse with fourteen stars above the eagle rather than the standard thirteen or the sixteen found on earlier issues. This is not an error but a direct consequence of the die-sharing practice: the specific fourteen-star reverse die was the identical die used to strike 1804 quarter eagles with fourteen-star reverses. The use of a single die to produce regular coinage of two different denominations, a ten-cent piece and a two-and-a-half-dollar gold coin, is, as Bowers noted, believed to be unique in the regular American series. Both the 13-star and 14-star 1804 dimes are collected, but the two varieties carry similar market values; the curiosity of the shared die has attracted more scholarly attention than premium pricing.⁸

Strike Quality and the Collecting Reality

The Draped Bust dime series was never reliably well struck, and neither type is known for sharp design definition at center. Liberty's hair above and at the ear, the stars, and the eagle's breast and wing feathers are the areas most prone to weakness. Many if not most examples of any date show some degree of striking softness in these locations, and this is a normal characteristic of the series rather than a defect to be penalized in grading. Adjustment marks are common on the early dates as they are on all early American silver. Most dates in the Heraldic Eagle type are found predominantly in grades from About Good through Very Fine, with Extremely Fine pieces scarce and About Uncirculated coins rare. For the 1800 through 1804 dates specifically, uncirculated pieces are essentially unknown or so rare as to be considered effectively non-existent at the current state of numismatic knowledge.

The 1805 and 1807 dates, which together account for more than 65 percent of the type's total mintage, are the dates most frequently seen in any grade including higher circulated. Only a handful of Draped Bust dimes of any date have been certified at Gem (Mint State 65 or finer) or above by the major grading services, and those that have are among the most carefully studied early American coins in existence.

Building the Set

Two coins complete the type set: one Small Eagle reverse (either 1796 or 1797, with the 1797 somewhat easier to find in equivalent condition) and one Heraldic Eagle reverse (most readily from 1805 or 1807, the highest-mintage dates). Both are available through specialist dealers and major auction houses, though even common-date examples in lower circulated grades carry prices that reflect genuine historical rarity and strong collector demand. The series is accessible to determined collectors but requires budget planning rather than impulse purchasing at any grade level above About Good.

A complete date set, one coin per struck year covering 1796, 1797, 1798, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1807, is achievable for a patient collector, with the 1802 presenting the most significant financial challenge. Authentication is essential for all Draped Bust dimes. The series has been counterfeited and altered throughout its collecting history, and the absence of denomination markings makes it superficially easier to pass an altered coin of a different denomination as a dime. PCGS and NGC certification is strongly recommended for any example purchased above a modest price. The standard specialist reference is Davis, Logan, Lovejoy, McCloskey, and Subjack's Early United States Dimes 1796–1837, which provides comprehensive die variety cataloguing for the series.