Most Seated Liberty dimes are worth about $15 to $35 in worn condition. Every Seated Liberty dime is 90% silver.
That combination — real silver content plus genuine 19th-century scarcity — is why even a heavily worn Seated dime trades well above its melt value. The series ran from 1837 to 1891, longer than any other U.S. dime design, and it contains two unique rarities, the 1870-S and the 1873-CC No Arrows, of which exactly one example of each is known. This guide covers the silver content by period, the key dates, and how condition moves the price. Value ranges below are approximate and were checked on October 31, 2026; individual coins vary with grade and certification.
Seated Liberty Dime Quick Facts
The Seated Liberty design, by Mint engraver Christian Gobrecht, shows Liberty seated on a rock holding a shield and a liberty pole. It debuted on the dime in 1837 and outlasted every contemporary series, surviving weight changes, arrow markers at the date, a design legend added in 1860, and the rise and fall of the Carson City and New Orleans mints. It was replaced in 1892 by the Barber dime.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Years struck | 1837–1891 |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper, all years |
| Diameter | 17.9 mm |
| Weight | 2.67 g (1837–1853); 2.49 g (1853–1873); 2.50 g (1873–1891) |
| Actual silver weight (final standard) | 0.0723 troy oz |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
| Mints | Philadelphia, New Orleans (O), San Francisco (S), Carson City (CC) |
| Mintmark location | Reverse, below the wreath |
Seated Liberty Dime Melt Value: The Formula
On the final weight standard used from 1873 to 1891, a Seated Liberty dime contains 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver, so melt value is 0.0723 × the current silver spot price — for example, about $3.25 at an illustrative $45 spot price. Earlier coins differ slightly: the 1837–1853 issues carry about 0.0773 oz, and the reduced-weight 1853–1873 issues about 0.0720 oz. In practice, melt is only a floor. Because so few Seated dimes survived in collectible shape, even common dates in Good condition usually trade around $15–$35, several times melt. The dime designs that followed kept the same silver standard for decades — see our Mercury dime value guide and our Roosevelt silver dime value guide for the 90% silver dimes that came later.
Seated Liberty Dime Key Dates
| Date / Mint | Mintage | Why It Matters (approximate value behavior) |
|---|---|---|
| 1870-S | 50,000 reported | Unique — exactly one example is known, and it has sold in the seven-figure class. The most famous dime rarity of the series. |
| 1873-CC No Arrows | 12,400 | Also unique, with one known survivor. The great Carson City dime rarity. |
| 1874-CC Arrows | 10,817 | The lowest-mintage Carson City dime after the unique issues. Worth thousands of dollars even in low grades. |
| 1871-CC / 1872-CC / 1873-CC Arrows | 20,100 / 35,480 / 12,400 | The remaining Carson City keys: hundreds to thousands of dollars in circulated grades. |
| 1844 | 72,500 | Nicknamed the “Little Orphan Annie” dime. Roughly $200–$350 in Good condition. |
| 1846 | 31,300 | A low-mintage early Philadelphia issue, in a similar roughly $200–$300 range in Good. |
| 1879 / 1880 / 1881 | 14,000 / 36,000 / 24,000 business strikes | Late-date issues struck mainly for proof sets; the few circulation strikes are worth roughly $200 or more in Good. |
Carson City Seated dimes are the heart of the series, and they are also where altered mintmarks appear most often. Any CC dime priced at key-date money should be certified by PCGS or NGC or bought with a dealer authenticity guarantee. When the Seated design retired, Charles Barber’s dime replaced it — our Barber dime value guide covers that successor series and its own legend, the 1894-S.
How Condition Drives Seated Liberty Dime Value
Seated dimes circulated for decades, and the grading pivot is the shield and the LIBERTY lettering on it. In Good condition the rim is full but the shield is mostly smooth; Fine shows partial lettering; Very Fine shows most of LIBERTY with wear on the high points of the seated figure. Two forces push prices up faster than mintages alone suggest. First, 19th-century dimes were workhorse coins, so high-grade survivors are scarce for nearly every date. Second, the early subtypes — the 1837–1838 No Stars issues and the 1853–1855 Arrows at Date coins — carry their own premiums as type coins. Dateless, holed, or cleaned Seated dimes fall back toward melt value regardless of date, so never clean one to try to read it: a worn original always beats a polished coin.
Shop 90% Silver Dimes
Seated dimes themselves sell on the collector market, but their direct descendants — the 90% silver dimes struck into 1964 — are a staple of our in-stock silver inventory:
- $1 Face Value 90% Silver Mercury Dimes – XF
- $1 Face Value 90% Silver Barber Dimes – Avg Circ — the design that replaced Seated Liberty in 1892
Checked October 31, 2026: both products above were in stock at the time of writing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much silver is in a Seated Liberty dime?
A Seated Liberty dime is 90% silver. On the final 1873–1891 weight standard it contains 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver; the earliest 1837–1853 issues contain slightly more, about 0.0773 oz.
What is the rarest Seated Liberty dime?
The 1870-S and the 1873-CC No Arrows are tied as the rarest, with exactly one known example of each. Both are seven-figure-class coins; the rarest Seated dimes a collector can realistically buy are the other Carson City issues such as the 1874-CC.
How much is an 1844 Seated Liberty dime worth?
An 1844 Seated Liberty dime — the “Little Orphan Annie” — is worth roughly $200 to $350 in Good condition, and substantially more in Fine or better. Its mintage was just 72,500.
What is a Seated Liberty dime’s melt value?
Melt value equals its actual silver weight multiplied by the spot price: 0.0723 × spot for an 1873–1891 coin. Most collectible examples trade well above melt, at roughly $15–$35 for a worn common date.
Where is the mintmark on a Seated Liberty dime?
The mintmark is on the reverse, below the wreath. Philadelphia coins have no mintmark; branch-mint coins carry an O (New Orleans), S (San Francisco), or CC (Carson City).
Educational content only — not financial advice.