PCGS - The
Roosevelt dime series has been in production since 1946, and while it's a long-running coin with hundreds of distinct issues the run has spawned very few dates that could be classified as truly scarce - let alone rare. However, that all changed in 1996 with the limited release of the 1996-W
Roosevelt dime, struck to recognize the 50th anniversary of the
Roosevelt dime series. Released a free bonus coin sold only with 1996 United States Mint Uncirculated Sets, the 1996-W
Roosevelt dime became the lowest-mintage business-strike coin in the series. The coin boasts a mintage of just 1,457,000 pieces, making it scarcer than any of the regular-issue business strikes that came before or after.
West Point Story
Roosevelt dime, 1996-W 10C, FB, PCGS MS68FBIn a numismatic world where the "W" mintmark of the West Point Mint has become rather commonplace on coinage - even some circulating coins - it's sometimes easy to forget there was a time not too many years ago when the sight of the W mintmark was a novel occurrence. In fact, the 1996-W
Roosevelt dime marked the first time a regular-issue (non-commemorative) coin type received the "W" scantly seen mintmark.
There is one major caveat here - The
Roosevelt dime was not the first circulating coin to be struck at the West Point Mint. The "W" mint had been complementing the production of regular-circulation coinage since the 1970s; from 1974 through 1986, the West Point Mint struck Lincoln Cents sans mintmark that are indistinguishable from Philadelphia strikes. The West Point Mint also produced
Washington quarters from 1977 through 1979, again without any mintmark or other distinguishing features that point to their West Point origin.
The "W" mintmark first appeared on
United States coinage in 1983 with the production of commemorative 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games $10 gold coins. Interestingly, the West Point Mint wasn't technically a mint at that time - it was still merely a bullion depository for silver, as had been the case since the "Fort Knox of Silver" was built in 1937. The West Point facility officially became a United States Mint branch facility on March 31, 1988.
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Posted 11/14/2020 04:10 am
I bought one a few years back for under ten. Not sure what they trade for nowadays, but I'd do the same.
