Also, coins below a dime are labeled in cents while those above a dime are described in dollars (Quarter dollar, Half Dollar). And the coins over a dime had an eagle on the back while nickels, pennies, two-cents, three-cents, and even dimes themselves did not. Due to this, dimes and everything above them had reeds to prevent criminals from surreptitiously lowering their value by shaving off edges.Ĭoins under a dime were nickel, bronze, and copper so they didn’t need reeds. On the earliest coins, anything above a dime was precious metal while the coins below dimes were base metals, with half di(s)mes shedding their silver content in 1866. In many ways, the Dime is a dividing line in US currency.

1916 Dime Value Chartsġ916 No Mint Mark Mercury Dime Full Bands It made Lady Liberty somewhat androgynous, making people think she was a male figure – namely, a Roman god! The 1916 Barber Dime was still around as well, so let’s look at the 1916 Dime Value for both. It comes from a word in Old French that translates as ‘tenth’ or ‘tithe’. The Dime is the nickname for American 10c coins.