1980-P

The 1980-P Roosevelt dime came out of the Philadelphia Mint at 735,170,000 pieces and carried a distinction no Philadelphia dime had carried before in the Roosevelt series. Starting with this date, Philadelphia struck Roosevelt dimes received a P mintmark on the obverse above the date, ending the fifteen-year run that began in 1965 when all circulating coinage from Philadelphia was struck without a mintmark. The 1980 issue stands as the first-year-of-issue Philadelphia dime with a visible mintmark in the Roosevelt series, and the P was added across the nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar denominations as part of a coordinated Treasury Department policy change (the Lincoln cent stayed without a P mintmark). The dime kept its established 2.27 gram weight, 17.9 millimeter diameter, and cupronickel-clad composition over a pure copper core, with no design change accompanying the new mintmark.

Authentication on the 1980-P is straightforward. The P mintmark sits clearly above the date and reads sharp on well-struck examples; circulated coins show normal Roosevelt-design wear with no varietal complications documented for this first-year issue. The torch reverse responds to grading the same way as every prior clad date, with Full Bands designation on Mint State coins requiring crisp horizontal lines across the torch's torch bands and clean separation between the parallel torch bars. Weight checks against the 2.27 gram clad specification rule out any planchet substitution at the dealer counter, and the standard reeded edge with coin alignment (reverse rotated 180 degrees from obverse) matches every prior Roosevelt date back to 1965.

The 1980-P date sees no scarcity at any common grade. Rolls and bags survive in quantity, and dealer inventory routinely includes BU examples sourced from original Mint sets. The price action concentrates at MS67 Full Bands and finer, where registry-grade examples carry meaningful premiums; below that level the date trades at modest type-coin prices despite its first-year-of-issue significance, which collectors documenting the modern P-mintmark transition often pursue as a milestone date. For broader context on Roosevelt's design history and the post-1964 transition from silver to clad, see the Roosevelt Dime series history.