what is the value of a silver dime today

[StSophia]

Ah, the humble silver dime! Turns out, that little piece of pocket change from yesteryear is worth a whole lot more than ten cents for a phone call. Its true value isn't in its ability to buy a gumball, but in the shiny stuff it's made of.

If you're holding a Roosevelt dime dated 1964 or earlier, or a Mercury dime, you've got a coin that's 90% silver. This isn't just a coin; it's a tiny, 0.0723 troy ounce silver ingot with a president's face on it. Based on the whimsical fluctuations of the silver market, the baseline "melt value" for one of these silver dimes was recently calculated to be around $2.20. Think of that as the coin's "I give up, just melt me down" price.

But hold your horses before you start a backyard smelting operation. That melt value is just the starting bid in the great game of coin collecting. If your dime is a rare date or in exceptionally pristine condition, a collector might see it as a tiny piece of history worth far more than its weight in silver. So, while it's worth a couple of bucks for its metal, it could be worth much more for its story.