1961 Roosevelt Dime

More than 300 million Roosevelt dimes were minted in 1961, a year that saw the U.S. Mint trying to catch up with the growing demand for silver coins. 1961 marked the middle of a busy time in numismatics. The hobby was extremely popular, and many modern issues were sought after by speculating collectors who saw huge profits with uncirculated rolls of Roosevelt dimes from the relatively low-mintage years of 1949 and 1955, as well as with latter coins from other series such as the Lincoln cent and Jefferson nickel.

What follows is a run-down of the mintages for 1961 Roosevelt dimes:

• 1961 – 93,730,000; $3

• 1961-D – 209,146,550; $3

• 1961 proof – 3,028,244; $4

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

A large portion of the original 1961 Roosevelt dimes exists to this day, so the coin is common in all grades and affordable for most collectors. Also readily available are proof dimes from 1961, which aren’t necessary to complete a date-and-mintmark set of Roosevelt dimes, though are tantalizingly inexpensive and usually bought for novelty anyway.

As most coin collectors will attest, the Roosevelt dime may not have as many challengingly expensive issues as is the case with many other series. But that isn’t really a problem – the Roosevelt dime is a perfect series for collectors of virtually any financial means.