TOP 6 TEN CENTS

AN EXCEPTIONAL HALF-DOZEN EARLY DIMES

- BY BARRY SUNSHINE

As a certified public accountant and a sophisticated collector of the finest-quality early dimes, I know how to count to six with the best dimes I have ever seen or owned. I've been a numismatist for over 40 years and one of my favorite series is early U.S. dimes. There are many reasons why I enjoy collecting this series and they include holding early U.S. American history; researching different die varieties for each year; owning dimes that are pedigreed to early famous collectors; owning coins that have very cool stories to tell, including their rarity; and owning early dimes that are originally toned attractive examples.

Finding originally toned attractive examples for each year takes a lot of patience and money. As an assemblage of coins grows to completion, collectors are proud of their accomplishments. Some collectors participate and compete with other collectors in registry sets and try to achieve having the highest-graded sets. Also, the camaraderie that collectors develop with each other deepens the friendship. I have had close collector friends for well over 20 years.

These are my six favorite dimes:

1796 Draped Bust dime.

The first year of the regular-issue dimes was 1796. It was the first year that had a Small Eagle reverse design. This Small Eagle reverse was used on dimes in 1796 and 1797. All 1796 dimes were minted in Philadelphia and because 1796 was the first year that the U.S. Mint manufactured dimes, collectors saved coins in quantity during that year of issue because the coins seemed new, novel and interesting. These coins are frequently found in high grades, but demand for them is strong because demand for that first-year type is feverish.

The 1796 example in my personal collection is graded by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) as About Uncirculated-58 on the one through 70 scale, where one is the lowest and 70 is perfect. 60 through 70 are the Mint State or Uncirculated grades.