Hi! I’ve been trying to find info on NGC or PGSC about clad dimes, but can’t find much online. I felt a 1964 dime that felt extremely light, so I weighed it and it came out to 2.20 grams. It should weigh 2.5 g or so, right?
Hi Fred! Thanks again What is the tolerance allowed? What would definitely be a clad weight coin? And it should have that clad color right?
Tolerance on a silver dime is .10 of a gram or 1.5 grains. If the coin doesn't show a copper core on the edge, it can't be on clad dime planchet - clad dimes weigh 2.7 grams/38.5 grains
Yeah, that’s where my confusion is. I can’t see a copper core on the edge, but the weight seems outside of tolerance, if it’s only 0.10 gram because it’s about .3 grams off and uncirculated. I tried measuring some others and all were between 2.41 and 2.57 (within a tenth of a gram). This is .20 grams less than the lightest one in that lot. Are there any other planchets it could have been struck on? Or is it just an extremely light silver dime that’s outside tolerance? Sorry for all the questions; I really appreciate your patience with me
It is out of tolerance (Fred was mistaken earlier, he was probably thinking about the weight of a clad dime in which case it would have been within tolerance.) but if there is no copper core showing on the edge it is NOT struck on a clad planchet. It is most likely just struck on a rolled thin planchet.
Yes, I was wrong about those numbers. Normal weight of a silver dime should be 2.5 grams Your's is 2.2 on your scale, a diff. of .3 of a gram, so it is marginally less than the tolerance of .1 gram by .2 of a gram Since I see no sign of weakness on the obv. photo, the coin is a very very very slightly underweight planchet. Not really an error in my view, more of a minor anomaly.
Thanks!!! That makes a lot more sense; just felt really weird when I picked it up, almost like it was a fake.
Don't forget, some coins can be struck on thinner or thicker planchets also and this will affect the weight.
Thanks! I've seen thicker coins and really thin coins, just didn't think of it as a possibility. It makes more sense now. I bought a platinum coin overseas once and it turned out to only be about 65% of the expected weight, so I get worried of counterfeits/fakes sometimes.
Silver 2.5 Clad 2.27 2.2 is light for a silver dime. Thin planchet would be good. But show photos of both sides, and lined up with some other dimes for thickness.
Hi Michael! Those were the numbers I came in thinking 2.5/2.27 I tried to do a line up, but honestly, they looked about the same. I stacked five on top of each other . . . it's very negligible (but at least you can see the edges). I used calipers to check diameter - all really close (sorry, no pictures of that). I also took a photo of both sides. I think a lot of the mushiness from the scale picture is from haze so I illuminated the front (to show the haze). I think it's probably a slightly thinner planchet, but it was just odd to me because it's only 88% of it's expected weight 2.2g/2.5g. However, 12% of a really small thickness is not that much, so based off the edging, the thin planchet makes sense. Anyway, here's the photos for ya'll to look at Sorry, I really can't photograph!
Which dime is it? The one 2nd from the bottom looks thin. It doesn't seem to be too worn (to account for 3/10 gram weight.) The edge shows that it is silver and not clad. (Which would be a bonanza.) If it were a thin planchet, the strike would not be as detailed. Is the last photo the same coin? Well, it's different. I would keep it in a 2x2 and label it at 2.2 grams.
Yeah, honestly, I forgot until I took the stack apart. It was the middle coin (I thought it was the second from the bottom as well). That's what I realized when I saw the edge - it's not a clad. Also, I agree, I was somewhat confused earlier because the strike looked okay to me, so wasn't sure how it could be mushy until I thought of the cloudiness from the haze. I think I read somewhere online about someone with a 1.65 gram silver dime so I don't feel as off about this coin. Last photo is the same coin - just with 5x magnification, phone zoom and LED lighting (again to show how much haze is on it). Anyway, thanks all!
