Values
A Draped Bust dime is the first dime struck for circulation. This page is a series reference, not a price list.
The mintage chart leaves G, VF, and MS-63 blank. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not cover this piece. Do not paste an auction hammer into the grade columns.
If you have one and want to sell it, start with how to sell a coin collection. The Capped Bust dime follows after a short gap. A Draped Bust half dime is half the face value.
Key Dates
1796 is the first year the dime article treats as circulation coinage. The 1792 disme is a pattern, including pieces struck in copper, and it is not a row here.
The reverse changes from a small eagle to a heraldic eagle inside the span. The article does not give a year table for either.
Errors
1792 disme. A pattern, sometimes in copper. It is not this silver circulation type.
Half dime in the dime box. Same drapery, half the value, and usually no denomination. Check the diameter before you file it here.
No table. The dime article does not print the grid. The grid stays empty.
Compare the coin to the NGC Coin Explorer. That category also includes Capped Bust dimes. We do not host their plates.
Varieties
An early small eagle, then a heraldic eagle. They are design types inside 1796–1807, not two grades. Early dimes of this type do not carry a mint mark.
- Small eagleThe first reverse. The plate on this page is a 1797 with that eagle.
- Heraldic eagleThe later reverse. Do not grade every dime as if it were the small-eagle plate.
Names follow PCGS CoinFacts and NGC, the same publishers this site already cites. This is a name list, not a price list and not a count.
Mintage
Draped bust dimes, 1796–1807. Small eagle, then heraldic eagle.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|
Mintage: the note under this table names the page that printed each count. These figures are not an NGC Coin Explorer extract and they are not the 1974 Mint pamphlet.
Collector-standard year/mint presentation follows A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book). These cells are Mint manufacture figures, not a Red Book net or melt.
Values: NGC US Coin Price Guide, retrieved 2026-08-21. Guide values, not offers. Not melt. NGC IDs link to the same publisher’s price-guide listing.
Key date names: NGC Coin Explorer. Bold rows are only dates that publisher named.
The chart is empty on purpose. The Wikipedia dime article does not print a year-by-year mintage table. Because the coin is a circulation type, a future table of those year counts would belong here. A remembered count does not.
The grade columns are empty because this site has no NGC guide extract for this coin.
Specifications
These are mint specs, not what a dealer pays. Wear can take a little weight off. We will not invent a tolerance. The weight row is the 1792 standard for a disme. No catalog page used here prints a thickness.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | Not printed |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | 41.6 grains standard (Coinage Act of April 2, 1792) |
| Composition | 1,485/1,664 silver, the rest copper (Coinage Act of April 2, 1792) |
| Edge | Not printed on a cited catalog page |
| Designer | Robert Scot |
No catalog page used for the Draped Bust dime prints a thickness. Diameter and thickness stay Not printed. The weight is the 1792 disme standard. This is not the half dime.
Grading
A Draped Bust dime wears first in the hair and on the eagle.
It is larger than the half dime of the same portrait. Grade the ten-cent coin in front of you.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Hair and drape | The hair over the forehead and the cloth at the shoulder. | Those are the high points. A cap means the next dime. |
| Eagle | Small eagle or heraldic eagle. | The reverse type changed. It is not two grades. |
| Size | The diameter against a half dime. | The half dime is the smaller silver coin. Do not average them. |
| Date | 1796 through 1807. | A 1792 disme is a pattern, not a worn 1796. |
Circulated & Mint State
These cards describe this coin, not a second copy of the P-1 through MS-70 chart. The shared numbers live on the glossary.
See graded photos. The photos that show what VF looks like live at PCGS. We do not host their plates. NGC Coin Explorer is another look if you want a second set.
What each named grade looks like on this design.
Poor
Poor
A disk you can still call a Draped Bust dime if you already know the type.
- The hair and the eagle are gone.
- The date may be a shadow. Do not scrape it.
- Shine does not make this a better coin.
AG
About Good
You might read a digit. The high points on this Draped Bust dime are already slick.
- The hair and the eagle are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A 1798 is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- The hair and the eagle are flat. The type is an outline, not a portrait.
- The rim should be full enough to hold the legend.
- This is a worn coin, not a details story.
VG
Very Good
The date is clear. A little life returns away from the high points.
- Some leftover detail sits away from the hair and the eagle.
- The high points are still tired.
- Do not clean the date to “see it better.”
Fine
Fine
You can follow the design. The high points are outlined, not sharp.
- The hair and the eagle are outlined and flat — no real sharpness yet.
- The rest of the coin can look busier than the grade.
- The date should be clear. The mint mark should be too, if there is one.
VF
Very Fine
The type is doing real work. The hair and the eagle still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on the hair and the eagle. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular 1798 is still this grade if it is this worn.
EF
Extremely Fine
Most of the coin looks sharp. The high points tell on it.
- Light wear on the hair and the eagle.
- The rest of the coin can look better than the grade. Trust the high points.
- The date should be sharp.
AU
About Uncirculated
Almost no wear — and “almost” lives on the same high points.
- A trace of rub on the hair and the eagle.
- Luster may still sit in the fields. Rub on those high points is still rub.
- A bright coin with a slick high point is still slick.
Basal MS
Mint State
No wear. The fight is marks and luster, not how white the coin looks.
- No rub on the hair and the eagle.
- Marks and luster decide how this mint-state coin lives.
- A bright chewed-up coin is still chewed-up.
Choice
Choice Mint State
Still no wear. Cleaner fields than basal mint state.
- Same no-wear rule on the hair and the eagle.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean Draped Bust dime for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on the hair and the eagle.
- Marks and luster, not a romance about a date or a white field.
- A slab is an opinion in plastic. The glossary has the numbers.
This page does not invent a PR price grid. The proof numbers live on the glossary.
Copper color designations do not apply to this silver coin. See the Lincoln Wheat cent and the glossary.
Overview
The Draped Bust dime is the 1796–1807 ten-cent coin. The Coinage Act of 1792 had authorized a disme at one-tenth of a dollar. The dime article says the first pieces made for circulation waited until 1796. Liberty is draped. The eagle starts small and later becomes heraldic.
The photograph is a 1797 Draped Bust dime with the small eagle, from the National Numismatic Collection. The heraldic eagle is the other reverse. Do not grade every dime as if it were that plate.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
Copper coinage started earlier. Silver dimes did not, and the article ties that delay to demand and to Mint production trouble. Once they started, the draped bust ran through 1807. Capped Bust dimes begin in 1809. The seated dime is decades later.
A 1792 disme can look related in a catalog. It is a pattern. It stays off this chart.
Design
Obverse: draped Liberty facing right. Reverse: small eagle or heraldic eagle. Early dimes of this type do not carry a mint mark. Philadelphia is the mint.
The drapery and the eagle’s wings tell you which design you have. The hair over the forehead is where wear shows first.
People Also Ask
Why is the chart empty?
The dime article explains the 1792 authorization and says circulation dimes began in 1796. It does not print a year-by-year mintage table for the draped bust.
Is this the same coin as the Draped Bust half dime?
No. The portrait is related. The denomination is ten cents, not five. The half dime has its own page.
What are the two reverses?
An early small eagle, then a heraldic eagle. They are design types inside this date span, not two grades.
How much is a Draped Bust dime worth?
This page does not print guide prices. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not include this coin. An auction result is not a guide cell.
Collector Considerations
Separate this coin from the half dime by size, and from the Capped Bust dime by the cap. A copper 1792 piece is not a worn 1796.
Do not fill the empty table from memory. The quarter and half dollar mintage articles print tables. The dime article used here does not.
The Seated Liberty dime is the long 19th-century series. Read that page if Liberty is seated.
A Final Word
The Draped Bust dime page is the first circulation dime and an empty chart. The missing table stays missing.
An auction story is not a mintage.