1983-P Roosevelt Dime : A Collector’s Guide

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
 

The second year of Donna Pope’s directorship of the United States Mint saw an increased focus on precious metals commemorative coins. The Los Angeles Summer Olympics, to be held in 1984, drew unprecedented national attention. In the lead-up to the Games, Congress and Olympics backers put forth several grandiose proposals for multi-year, multi-coin commemorative programs. In a series of articles written by Dave Provost, CoinWeek has published a lengthy breakdown of the 1983-84 Los Angeles Olympics coins that is well worth your time. In short, the realized program, which included multiple silver dollar and gold $10 coin designs (the first U.S. gold coins issued since 1933), could have been much more sprawling and potentially devastating for the reborn commemorative coin program.

Producing these coins was a multi-mint affair, with the West Point Bullion Depository pitching in to strike the gold coins. Because of this and other factors, the Mint extended the moratorium on issuing its annual Uncirculated coin set for a second year. This meant that collectors did not have a one-stop-shopping method to acquire Mint State examples of each circulating coin for 1983.

Instead, collectors and dealers had to source coins through normal commercial channels. Of course, the strike quality of circulating coins is typically worse than that of coins included in Uncirculated coin sets. As a result of this–and the fact that hub detail was getting progressively weaker by 1983–sharply struck 1983 Roosevelt Dimes are seldom encountered amongst coins saved from circulation. In the certified coin market, this has major implications.

What Is the 1983-P Roosevelt Dime Worth?

1983-P Roosevelt Dimes found in circulation have a “notional” numismatic value of about $1. We say notional because it’s doubtful that a coin dealer will pay any more than face value for circulated examples. It’s also unlikely that they’d purchase Mint State examples, either. To arrive at our circulated value, we reviewed multiple eBay transactions that have occurred over the past year. In Mint State, the price jumps to $6 for raw coins and more for examples that have been certified by one of the three leading grading services.

These vary in price depending on the grade and strike quality, with Superb Gems graded MS67 or finer being the most valuable.

A recent promotion by Erie, Pennsylvania coin dealer Dempsey and Baxter saw a number of 1983 Roosevelt Dimes (as well as other coins) slabbed by NGC in black core holders with swatches of “mint bags” affixed to the label in a manner similar to “game worn jersey” sports cards. This certainly presents a degree of novelty for the collector but doesn’t add value to the coin.

Generally speaking, certified populations of modern coins are too low to provide true insight into a coin’s scarcity or grade distribution. In the case of the 1983-P Roosevelt Dime, however, we see a clear contrast between the population of coins graded with and without the important Full Torch designation.

In short, 1983-P Roosevelt Dimes with Full Torch represent less than 2% of the total number of 1983-P dimes submitted. To qualify as Full Torch, the vertical lines of the torch (found on the reverse) must be fully separated and show a high degree of detail. During the high-mintage clad era, design sharpness varied from year to year, depending on the condition of the hubs and dies.

Roosevelt Dime hubs clearly lacked detail for the 1983 issue, and this can be observed with the flatness of Roosevelt’s hair and the branches and torch on the reverse. Furthermore, as the dies degraded, the clarity of the inscriptions–especially LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, E PLURIBUS UNUM, and the date–became distorted.

While it’s not a good idea to assume that additional Full Torch coins won’t turn up in the future, one can assume that Mint State rolls set aside by collectors that might contain Full Torch examples are getting harder to find.

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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

The NGC MS68FT population has stood at one coin since at least 2015.

Top Population: PCGS MS67FB (2, 12/2024), NGC MS68FT (1, 12/2024), and CAC None Graded (12/2024).

• NGC MS68FT #4206478-002: Heritage Auctions, December 4, 2015, Lot 3708 – $2,232.50. Top pop, pop one.
• NGC MS67FT #2565760-001: “The Paul Kiraly #1 NGC Registry Roosevelt Dimes, Circulation Issue Set,” Heritage Auctions, December 7, 2014, Lot 7443 – $558.13.
• PCGS MS64FB #13390220: GreatCollections, January 16, 2022, Lot 1095127 – $405.
• NGC MS68 #2541652-007: Heritage Auctions, April 21, 2012, Lot 9375 – $488.75.

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Design

Obverse:

A left-facing profile of President Franklin D. Roosevelt occupies most of the obverse space. Inside the smooth rim in front of Roosevelt’s face is the word LIBERTY. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST in smaller letters is positioned below the chin. The date 1983 is squeezed into the space inside the rim and beneath the neck truncation, to the right of the designer’s initials JS, which are just below and oriented parallel to the edge of the neckline. The mintmark P is located at the back of the head between the date and the truncation of Roosevelt’s neck.

Reverse:

Completely encircling inside the reverse smooth rim is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination ONE DIME (in slightly larger letters). The two phrases are separated by centered dots. In the middle of the design is a flaming torch, flanked by an olive branch to the left and an oak branch to the right. Forming a horizontal line through the base of the torch and both branches is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM, with centering dots separating the three Latin words.

Edge:

The edge of the 1983-P Roosevelt Dime is reeded.

Designer

John R. Sinnock (1888-1947) served as the eighth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1925 through his death on May 14, 1947. He is responsible for the design of both the Roosevelt Dime and the Franklin Half Dollar.

1983-P Roosevelt Dime Coin Specifications

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