6,615,455 silver Roosevelt dimes

[CardsNCoins]

That's how many silver Roosevelt dimes (1946 - 1964) would still be left in circulation if 99.9% of them have already been found and/or melted.

Six million, six hundred and fifteen thousand, four hundred and fifty five.

So when someone tells me "why are you searching for silver dimes when 99.9% of them have been found/melted already," I will say "great, then there are still 6.6 million left for me to find."

Get after those dimes my friends.

HH

Nick

 

[ancesthntr]

Nice post - it served its purpose, which was to show that there are a lot of silver dimes out there. Same applies for the rest of our silver coinage, though I'd have to believe that the dimes are the most numerous in circulation (people simply don't pay attention to them, as they are very rare, and the reward per dime is fairly low - it simply doesn't pay to search for most people except us CRHers).

Based on the website http://www.mountainviewcoins.com/mintage-US-coins.php the total mintages of coins with silver in them (coins that we're likely to find in circulation, that is) is approximately as follows (not counting proofs or NIFCs):

Jefferson War Nickels: 869,823,000
Roosevelt Dimes: 6,566,055,420
Washington Quarters: 3,795,988,590
90% Kennedy Halves: 433,460,000
40% Kennedy Halves: 847,745,000

I think that just lopping off the last 3 digits is a conservative estimate - with the possible exception of the Washington Quarters, maybe these need to be adjusted by another factor of 10. In any case, this way of looking at things points out that there are a LOT of coins for us CRHers to find.

Another thing to think about is the fact that much of what is out there in circulation is actually put back from time to time. You might be right that starting with 1 in 1,000 coins remaining is a good estimate of the population's first shot at enforcing Gresham's Law, but more are put in as people die and their heirs unwittingly take the coins to the bank (those are the monster boxes that a few lucky souls report), or as people are robbed (by professionals or their little kids). So, there's even more hope of finding silver out there than most of us probably expect.

 

[GMan00001]

I think your numbers are quite low.........

I posed no concrete numbers, nor was I trying to. I said if 99.9% were gone. No one, yes no one, knows for sure how many dimes are gone/left. Could be 62.3%, could be 71.87%, could be.........you get the picture.

I'm just giving hope to those that have been told that 99.9% are gone already.

HH

Nick

Fair enough. I don't know for sure either, my numbers are purely based on my own calculations using my search results over a number of years. Basically a good guestimate.

 

[CardsNCoins]

Thought I'd bring this back up since many of the members here are adding dimes to their repertoire these days.

HH

Nick

 

[papa1956e9]

Thanks for the confidence boost cardsNcoins. I remember reading this post before, but I've been in need of more motivation after skunking for the last 2 weeks.

 

[Dok Holliday]

Thought I'd bring this back up since many of the members here are adding dimes to their repertoire these days.

HH

Nick

This post is why I started up on dimes months ago.

 

[mleblanc138]

I've been very aggressive with Dimes recently. Only found 3 today, but I recently found 11 in a single day of searching.

 

[azlegends]

One amazingly encouraging statistic.

 

[clovis97]

This post gave me some encouragement too when working dimes.

After a skunk streak, I found three yesterday.

 

[apush]

Cards,
Good point. Keeps all of us motivated to continue the quest. Took 3 dimes out of circulation myself a few days ago.


apush

 

[999digger]

Don't forget about the mercs that are still in circulation and the barbers.

 

[Saabman]

Awesome post CnC!!!! Thanks for keeping us (me) inspired!!!

 

[Gilmore Happy]

Here's another interesting statistic.

Gilmore Happy has taken 9 Mercs out of circulation in the past 11 days. Got a box dated 2006 and had 2 in there.

 

[clovis97]

This thread is like a pep talk to me...I still appreciate CnC posting it!

 

[SFBayArea]

Finally got a 1949-S today.. albeit I'm in a good area for finding S-mints.. sure took a while.

 

[LeoTrench-MAINE]

I got 3

Trench

 

[madwest]

Well, according to http://www.coinnews.net/mints/us-circulating-coin-production-figures/, there have been more than 27,475,340,000 (27B) Roosevelt dimes minted since 1999. I couldn't find the number between 1965 and 1999 (I'm sure someone can). So, I conservatively assumed 50B.

Assumed number (%) of pre-1964 Roosevelt dimes still circulating -> Ratio of Ag to clad

6.6M (0.1%) -> 1:11667
13.2M (0.2%) -> 1:5833
26.4M (0.4%) -> 1:2917
52.8M (0.8%) -> 1:1458
105.6M (1.6%) -> 1:729
211.2M (3.2%) -> 1:365
422.4M (6.4%) -> 1:182

 

[MauserMan]

Lol, just found this. It's true, and they can add up nicely.