
Well, the provided search results were about as helpful as a chocolate teapot, offering a delightful tour of website navigation and holiday ads instead of any actual facts about coins. So, let's toss that aside and dig into the real answer.
Before 1965, the United States was a wild place where the change in your pocket had actual intrinsic value. Those dimes minted in 1964 or earlier, namely the Roosevelt and varieties, are made of a glorious 90% silver and 10% copper. This alloy was used to make them durable enough to survive a trip through the laundromat.
Each one of these little silver discs contains precisely 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver. It might not sound like enough to retire on, but it's why coin collectors and silver stackers affectionately refer to them as "junk silver." It's a rather unflattering name for what is essentially a tiny, government-issued silver bullion coin that you might still find in an old piggy bank. So, check your change – you could be holding a piece of history worth more than a mere ten cents.


