1962

The 1962 Philadelphia Roosevelt dime carries a circulation mintage of 75,294,019 pieces, stepping down from the 1961 level as Treasury shifted a larger share of the year's dime work to Denver. The 1962 output is the lower of the year's two circulation issues, with Philadelphia covering East Coast distribution while Denver pushed past 334 million to handle the bulk of national demand. The disparity widened the gap between the two mints to roughly 4-to-1 in Denver's favor, the largest single-year imbalance in the silver Roosevelt run to date. The coin carries John R. Sinnock's 1946 design unchanged, with the FDR obverse and the torch-with-olive-and-oak reverse intact. Philadelphia coins carry no mintmark, the standard parent-mint convention through 1979. The 1962 sits in the late-stage silver run, three years before the Coinage Act of 1965 would close the silver dime program.

The 1962 follows the silver-era specifications: 2.5 grams, 17.9 millimeters, 90% silver and 10% copper, reeded edge. Authentication on a Philadelphia circulation strike includes the standard weight check at roughly 2.45 to 2.55 grams, confirmation of no mintmark on either side of the coin, and inspection of the reeded edge for completeness. Strike quality on 1962 coins runs from average to sharp, with the Full Bands designation requiring complete separation on both pairs of horizontal bands wrapping the torch. Philadelphia FB strikes appear at a respectable rate, though softer central-detail examples are common at lower Mint State tiers from routine die wear across the production run. Condition rarity becomes meaningful at MS-67 FB and finer because the date's lower mintage relative to Denver did not translate into elevated collector preservation.

In the market the 1962 trades at entry-level prices through circulated and lower Mint State grades, with the silver melt floor anchoring the bottom. PCGS and NGC populations are healthy through MS-65 and MS-66 but tighten meaningfully at MS-67 FB and finer. The date is a common roll filler in Roosevelt date sets without a Key or Semi-Key premium, and condition-rarity buyers focus on strict-FB MS-67 examples, which trade into three-figure territory and reach four figures at MS-67+ FB. For broader context, see the Roosevelt Dime series history.