1955 Roosevelt Dime

1955 Roosevelt dimes are popular among collectors of 20th century coins, silver coinage, and type coins across the board. While Roosevelt dimes were generally struck in huge quantities, astute observers of the series will realize the 1955 saw substantially decreased production across the board; this is true across the board for most U.S. denominations that year.

The mintage figures below tell more of the story:

• 1955 – 12,450,181; $4

• 1955-D – 13,959,000; $4

• 1955-S – 22,860,000; $4

• 1955 proof – 378,200; $18

*Values are for coins in a grade of Extremely Fine 40, unless otherwise stated. 

Perhaps the biggest shock of the year was that the Philadelphia mint, known for usually producing far more coins than the branch mints, struck only 12 million-odd Roosevelt dimes. That would, in fact, turn out to be the lowest mintage ever for a regular-issue Roosevelt dime. Also of note in 1955 is the San Francisco issue, which was the last regularly struck dime from that mint. 

The San Francisco mint would not again leave its “S” mintmark on Roosevelt dimes until 1968 when the facility began striking proof coinage on a regular basis. Speaking of proof coinage, the 1955 proof dime is fairly easy to locate for collectors who specialize in the series, but is not necessary to completing a date-and-mintmark set of regular-issue Roosevelt dimes.