In spring 2003, the top two holdering companies announced that they would be certifying well-struck Roosevelt dimes with “FT” (full torch, NGC) and “FB” (full bands, PCGS) designations. Both companies based their changes on collector and dealer requests.
This means that Roosevelt dimes in older holders may have undesignated full bands on their labels. That presents you with a keen opportunity to snare a rare coin at minimal cost.
How can you tell if your holder was made prior to 2003? There are several sites that feature changes in holder styles. I recommend this one for NGC and this one for PCGS.
The FT/FB designations do not apply to proof coins, by the way.
Before suggesting what dates to look for, let’s define how to recognize full bands.
Look at the reverse. You will see upper and lower horizontal bands on the torch and three areas of vertical bands above and below each of the horizontal ones. Bands must be clear and unbroken.
For specific instructions on how to tell full bands, visit this NGC site or this PCGS site.
When purchasing or bidding on Roosevelt dimes in older holders, check for full split bands. You not only may win a coin that will grade up a point or two, due to more rigorous standards in the 1980s and 1990s, you also may find an undesignated full-bands coin that can add hundreds more dollars in value.
Silver Roosevelt dimes were minted from 1946-1964. Some of those years had poor strikes, making full bands a distinct bonus. You’ll want to find uncirculated ones at the MS66 level, if possible, because there may be little boost in values at the MS64 or MS65 levels, especially in the 90% silver years of the denomination.
I look for full bands in years that quadruple value (or more). Below are specific years at the MS66 level. Ones with asterisks are years in which full bands at MS65 and below feature far lesser values and that may not be worth the cost of paying for regrading.
For comparison, I’ll show the increase in value like this: “1947-S $20/$80*”. That means a 1947-S dime is worth $20 at MS66 and $80 with full bands. Once again, the asterisk notes that at MS65 and lower, values may be far less.
- 1947-S $20/$80*
- 1949 $30/$250
- 1949-S $55/$625
- 1952 $20/$80*
- 1953 $25/$115*
- 1954 $17/$150*
- 1954-S $20/$100*
- 1955 $20/$285
- 1955-S $20/$140*
- 1956 $20/$265*
- 1957 $20/$115*
- 1958 $19/$285
- 1960 $20/$150
- 1961 $20/$170
- 1963 $26/$475*
- 1963-D $25/$150
Many clad Roosevelts offer even greater values than silver counterparts. You should check your favorite price guides to see how much. I collect mainly PCGS coins so I use its price guide.
Some full-band years are really spectacular. For instance, full bands on a 1970 dime at MS64 increases value from $1 to $450, with $900 at MS65 and $1,750 at MS66. Here are a few more MS66 samples:
- 1974-D, $2; $500 with FB
- 1976, $15; $1,250 with FB
- 1980-D, $15; $1,850 with FB
- 1983, $30; $1,100 with FB
The best place to cherrypick clad dimes with full bands is in those low-cost mint sets or rolls that nobody seems to want.
Happy hunting!
charlie says
January 4, 2014 at 1:15 pmI have almost a full set of Clad dimes in either pcgs or ngc designations,some of the harder to aquire dimes are actually the newer coins. This does not mean they are rare or worth the high premium that has been delegated to them, it just means they were not popular enough to have graded. Do not get caught up in this hype as values will soon plumet as more collectors have these coins graded.
JMHO
Michael Bugeja says
January 4, 2014 at 1:43 pmThe column is about strike, not date. Your full set may be mint state but the US Mint had many years of poor strikes, particularly in the 1980s. The first coin mentioned in my column was a 1947-S. PCGS has received 2640 submissions in that year with 259 registering full bands. NGC has received 1955 submissions in that year, with 164 receiving full torch. Of the 4595 submissions for both services, only 423 received the distinction indicating a full strike. That’s about 9%, an indicator of value. As for a more recent date, such as the 1980-D–one of the highest priced Roosevelt dimes with full bands–again, the numbers tell the story. NGC received 82 submissions in that year; only 1 was designated with FT. PCGS received 172 submissions; only 2 received FB. Of the 254 submissions in that year, a total 3 received full-band designations, or about 1%. In other words, one dime in a hundred worthy of submission may receive a full-band designation. If you apply statistics to the occurrence, from two separate sources (NGC and PCGS) with the same percentage at each company, given the number submitted, those statistics will probably hold true no matter how many submissions are received.
Michael Bugeja says
January 4, 2014 at 1:54 pmIn November 2013, a toned 1947-S MS68 FT sold for $5,287.50 in NYC. See: http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1191&lotNo=3577 . On Dec. 8, 2013, an untoned 1980-D MS66FB sold for $2,350 at Teletrade. See: http://www.teletrade.com/coins/lot.asp?auction=3459&lot=1164.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll be looking at 1980-D dimes in mint sets at the Coin-A-Rama show near my home town in Nevada, Iowa, next month!
Mr.SG says
April 5, 2014 at 9:16 pmAs a Roosevelt collector myself, you’re blowing up my spot bro! (just kidding…sort of) I’ve sent in several dimes in older slabs to NGC for designation review. And yeah, there are many that I’ve found that have been upgraded to FT. One recent upgrade was a 1946-S NGC MS 67 that I paid $20.00 for on eBay. I sent it to NGC for designation review, they agreed, now the coin is MS 67 FT with a list price of $163.00.
The only problem is, you won’t find many NGC/PCGS Roosies with undesignated FT/FB at coin shows. In fact, as I’m sure you already know, you won’t find many TPG Roosevelts at coin shows at all. So, I’ve found that the best place to find them is in online auctions like eBay. BUT, the details on the torch lines are so fine that you can see them in a photo that’s even a little blurry. So many times it’s a gamble.
You might also want to check out some other dates for FT/FB like the 1958-P. The last time that I counted, NGC and PCGS only had a combined population of 120 Roosevelts dated 1958-P with FT or FB designation. Of the 48 coins in the silver ’46-’64 series, the 1958-P is the second hardest to find with FT or FB after the 1949-S. I wrote a short journal about this back in December. Here: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=14830
Good stuff though. Thanks
Michael Bugeja says
April 6, 2014 at 8:21 amThank you so much for enriching this discussion! You are spot on in your analysis. Terrific numismatic work!