In fact, up till 1964 ALL dimes, quarters, halves and dollars were made of 90% silver. In the past every coin except pennies and nickels was supposed to contain its own value in precious metals, either gold or silver. The prices of those metals were controlled by the government so a fixed amount of silver (till 1964) and gold (till 1933) was needed to ensure that a each coin contained its face value. For example, a dime contained 2.25 gm of silver which was worth 10 cents at that time.
Eventually the demand for gold and silver in industry and elsewhere became so high that the government had to start selling its reserves and let the price be determined by the market. That meant that a silver coin's value could change radically as market prices changed. In fact, at one point its price reached nearly $50/oz so people would melt silver coins and sell them for much more than their face value. The government clearly couldn't keep minting dimes at 10 cents each that people could melt for over $4.00 each, so they started making coins from copper-nickel instead.
Today the price of silver has dropped from those ridiculous highs but is still far more than it was in 1964. US silver coins dated 1964 and earlier are currenly (2010) worth at least 10 times face value, depending on the current price of silver.
US dimes were struck in silver from 1796 to 1964.
The last year for silver U.S. dimes was 1964.
No. The last year for silver dimes in the U.S. was 1964.
Sorry, no US dimes dated 1973 were struck in silver the last year for silver dimes was 1964.
1964 was the last year for silver dimes.
Silver dimes were last minted in 1964 in the US.
1964 and older US dimes contain 90% silver.
US dimes were struck in silver from 1796 to 1964.
The last year for silver U.S. dimes was 1964.
US dimes were made of silver starting with the very first dimes back in 1796, and continued as such through 1964.
No. The last year for silver dimes in the U.S. was 1964.
All US dimes dated 1964 and earlier were struck in an alloy of 90% silver and 10% copper
Sorry, no US dimes dated 1973 were struck in silver the last year for silver dimes was 1964.
1964 was the last year for US silver dimes. The reason was because the value of the silver in a dime began to exceed ten cents.
US dimes minted before 1965 are currently worth at least $2 for their silver content.
All US dimes dated 1964 and earlier were struck in an alloy of 90% silver and 10% copper
1964 was the last year for silver dimes.