1987-D

Denver delivered 762,709,481 Roosevelt dimes in 1987, an output figure identical to the Philadelphia total and the only time in the 1980s when the two principal mints produced exactly matching dime quantities. The parity reflected coordinated Federal Reserve order allocation rather than any production coincidence at the working level. The D mintmark sat above the date in its established position, the clad sandwich held the 2.268-gram, 17.91-millimeter cupronickel-on-pure-copper specification, and strike quality came up better-than-average across the Denver dies for the year. As a date, the 1987-D reads as an ordinary late-1980s D-mint issue, with the collecting interest concentrated in the population data rather than at the production level.

Authentication on the 1987-D follows the standard clad-dime checklist: 2.268 grams on a calibrated scale, D mintmark sharp above the date under 10x magnification, and Full Bands evaluation across the central torch. Full Bands, the third-party grading designation that the two parallel torch bands at the midpoint show complete separation, is reasonably available on 1987-D because the year's Denver strike quality runs a step better than the surrounding 1986 and 1988 production. The FB premium concentrates at MS67 FB and finer where population reports thin to registry-relevant levels. No major business-strike die varieties carry Cherrypickers attribution, and the date shows no recognized RPM or doubled-die premium varieties at the principal attribution levels.

The 1987-D survives in heavy quantity through MS66 and trades at standard type-coin pricing at and below that grade. The condition-rarity tier opens at MS67 FB where PCGS and NGC population reports thin enough to support registry-set competition; MS68 FB examples step into four-figure territory at public auction. Original Mint sets and bank-wrapped rolls remain the practical hunting ground for upgrade-grade material, since the bulk of Denver output entered circulation rather than collector hands. Pricing across base grades has stayed flat for decades, and the 1987-D remains a routine entry in modern Roosevelt date sets. The 1987-P and 1987-D pair up neatly as a matched-mintage year for collectors building parallel P-D sets across the decade. For Denver's role through the second half of the 1980s, see the Roosevelt Dime series history.