1796 Draped Bust Dime
Authorized by the Act of April 2, 1792, regular issue dime coinage commenced at the Philadelphia Mint with a delivery of 14,520 coins on January 18, 1796. Additional deliveries came on February 13 (1,750 coins), March 30 (1,680 coins), April 9 (2,750 coins) and May 27 (1,435 coins), for a total mintage of 22,135 dimes for calendar year 1796. According to some numismatic scholars, as reported in the 1984 reference Early United States Dimes: 1796-1837 by the John Reich Collectors Society, the deliveries of February 28 (3,864 coins) and March 21, 1797 (6,380 coins) may also have been from 1796-dated dies. If true, the total mintage for this issue would be 32,379 pieces. The same reference states that the 2,750-coin delivery of April 9, 1796, comprises the total mintage of the JR-4 die pairing.
As the first regular issue dime in U.S. coinage history and one of only two issues of the Draped Bust, Small Eagle design type, the 1796 is very popular. Winston Zack, Louis Scuderi and Michael Sherrill (Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide, 2015) offer an estimate of 800 to 1,200 coins extant in all grades. JR-4 is a median rarity among the seven known die marriages, and it is very scarce in an absolute sense. Mint State survivors of the issue as a whole are rare, especially relative to the strong demand among high grade type collectors and early dime enthusiasts alike.
JR-1 is the most available of the seven die pairings, and with a number of Mint State examples extant it appears that many pieces were set aside as the first dimes to reach the general public. A single specimen strike is known, so at least one example was specially prepared for presentation purposes.
The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the D. Brent Pogue Part I Auction, where it realized $235,000.
1796 Draped Bust Dime Auction Highlights
 PCGS MS-66+ Sold for $235,000 View Lot 1034 |  NGC MS-65 Sold for $92,000 View Lot 1347 |  NGC MS-66 Sold for $90,000 View Lot 1046 |
