1900 Dime Error List with Pictures
Part of UNITED STATES missed the metal on a 1900-S dime struck 15% off-center. The lightly worn coin sold for $862.50 at Heritage in 2005.
This 1900 dime error list covers nine types with estimated prices of $20–$1,500. Some leave a tiny raised line, while others change the entire outline.
Read on to compare the marks, learn where to look, and see how a complete but widened design differs from an off-center strike.
1. 1900 Barber Dime Die Cracks (Estimated Up to $150)
A thin raised line near Liberty or through the wreath may be a die crack. The die is the steel tool that stamps the design, and a split in its surface can leave this mark.
Silver flows into the opening during striking, making the line stand above the coin’s surface. A later scratch usually cuts into the coin instead.
The 1900 year guide reports cracks in these general areas without mapping a specific die. Follow the actual line on your coin; a narrow crack is different from a large raised rim break.
Estimated Value
Estimate $20–$150 for ordinary circulated 1900 dimes with visible small cracks. Clear lines and better surfaces can place a coin nearer the upper end.
The guide treats small cracks as modest additions to the coin’s value. This range is a whole-coin estimate, not a recorded crack sale.
Mint and grade still matter. A better New Orleans coin may already be worth more before the crack is considered, especially if little wear remains.
How to Identify
Move the light first. A lamp shining across the surface from two directions helps show whether the line is raised or sunken.
Use a 10× magnifier to follow it beside the portrait or through the wreath. Do not join separate scratches into one imagined crack.
The normal dime is 90% silver and originally weighed 2.50 grams. Compare that weight and its 17.9-mm diameter with a scale and calipers, then inspect the grooved edge.
A stain may look dark without changing the surface’s height. Follow a continuous raised line through the design; a cut with pushed-up edges instead suggests later damage.
2. 1900 Barber Dime Struck Through Grease (Estimated Up to $250)
A weak or missing LIBERTY on the headband can be easy to mistake for wear. The 1900 guide also reports grease-related weakness there and in parts of the date.
Grease or other material can fill a hollow in the die. Silver then cannot enter that space fully, leaving the intended detail shallow or absent.
Check the nearby design too. Missing letters surrounded by sharp detail deserve closer study, while a headband worn smooth along with the hair suggests circulation; no particular cloth pattern or trapped object is identified in the report.
Estimated Value
For a genuine circulated example with clear local weakness, estimate $50–$250. This follows the guide’s $75–$200 circulated range, with room for different levels of detail and surface quality.
A worn-away word alone adds no error value. Buyers need to see why the missing letters resulted from the strike rather than later use.
These figures are estimates, not a sale price for a named specimen. Larger weak areas can attract interest when the rest of the coin remains clear.
How to Identify
Compare the headband with the hair and wreath before judging LIBERTY by itself. If other high points are equally smooth, ordinary wear may explain the missing word.
Now study the weak area with a 10× magnifier and low light. Look for scratches or polishing that could have removed finished letters.
The dime normally measures 17.9 mm and originally weighs 2.50 grams. Use calipers and a scale to check it; the metal is 90% silver and the edge has grooves.
For a date example, keep the nearby numerals in view. A small weak area surrounded by sharp, undisturbed detail is the useful starting clue to a filled stamping tool.
3. 1900 Barber Dime Misaligned Obverse Die (Estimated Up to $350)
One side may look shifted toward the rim while the other stays more centered. This can happen when a die sits too far to one side in the press.
The blank can be in the correct position even though that die is not. A large shift may cut off some outer lettering, but a small shift mainly changes the rim spacing.
The year guides report this error without naming one mint or exact amount of movement. Check both sides, since a slightly uneven border alone can also occur during otherwise normal striking.
Estimated Value
A clear one-sided shift on a circulated coin has an estimated value of $40–$350. Small shifts that are hard to notice belong nearer the lower end.
The year guides give modest premiums for this error. The higher prices here assume a visible shift and an attractive coin with useful detail.
This estimate does not borrow the off-center coin’s auction value. Off-center strikes move both designs across the blank and can leave a large unstruck crescent.
How to Identify
Keep the camera straight above the coin. An angled photograph can make one rim look wider, so take both sides at the same size before comparing the space outside their letters.
Keep the full edge visible in each photograph.
An ordinary 90%-silver dime started at 2.50 grams and measures 17.9 mm, with a grooved edge. A scale and calipers help check that the coin has not been spread or squeezed after striking.
With a 10× magnifier, follow the lettering where it comes closest to the rim. Compare that arc with the back; a shifted front beside a centered back points toward one misplaced tool.
4. 1900 Barber Dime Repunched Mintmark (Estimated Up to $500)
An extra curve beside O or S can suggest a repunched mintmark. This means the mint letter was punched into the die more than once in slightly different positions.
Look below the reverse wreath bow. The year guides report extra letter outlines on New Orleans and San Francisco dimes, but do not give one shared direction for the marks.
A mintmark sitting higher or lower than another coin’s letter is not enough. There must be some second impression, and damage, corrosion, or a letter added later can create misleading shapes around the original mark.
Estimated Value
For genuine repunched mintmarks on circulated coins, estimate $40–$500. The O and S issues need separate comparisons because their normal coin values differ.
The year guides describe modest RPM premiums, rather than one large fixed bonus. RPM is simply the abbreviation for repunched mintmark.
A clear extra outline and good surfaces help support a higher price. This is an estimate; the famous 1900-O/CC Morgan dollar variety belongs to a different coin and does not apply here.
How to Identify
Find the mintmark below the bow and photograph the whole letter. Enlarge that image only after you can see how the suspected extra line fits an O or S.
Check the smooth area around it. A seam, tool marks, or unusual raised metal can point to a letter added after minting.
The normal dime is 90% silver, originally 2.50 grams, and 17.9 mm across with a grooved edge. A scale and calipers can check those measurements while a 10× magnifier shows the letter’s smaller features.
Trace the extra curve into the shape of a second O or S; random roughness at one edge does not establish repunching.
5. 1900 Barber Dime Clipped Planchet (Estimated Up to $550)
A small part of the coin’s edge can be missing before the design is struck. This is a clipped planchet, meaning an incomplete metal blank rather than a finished coin cut with a tool.
The Rippere collection included a 1900 Philadelphia dime with a four-percent clip, graded PCGS AU55 for light wear. GreatCollections offered it in September 2024.
The catalog names the size but does not state the cutout’s shape or clock position in its title. Study the actual boundary, where the rim formed around metal that was already missing.
Estimated Value
A small genuine clip on a worn to lightly worn 1900 dime has an estimated value of $100–$550. The public listing identifies the four-percent example but does not show its final price here.
A separate 1906 Barber dime offers a price comparison. Its larger twelve-percent straight clip, graded PCGS MS62, sold for $288 at Heritage in July 2021.
That different date, clip size, and unworn grade make it a reference, not an exact price for the 1900 coin.
How to Identify
Weigh the coin on a scale before inspecting the cutout. A clip removes some of the original 2.50-gram blank, although wear can also reduce the weight.
The silver content is 90%, and an intact coin measures 17.9 mm with a grooved edge. Use calipers to record the surviving outline and a 10× magnifier to study both ends of the missing segment.
Check how the rim meets those ends. A later cut may slice through finished edge grooves and leave fresh tool lines.
A blank clipped before striking changes how the rim forms around the gap. Begin at the two ends, looking for original rounded transitions rather than cuts through completed ridges.
6. 1900 Barber Dime Rim Cud (Estimated Up to $650)
A raised patch joined to the rim can be a cud, a mark left by a broken die edge. It may cover detail that should appear beside the border.
The steel die loses a piece, and silver fills the open space during the strike. A raised patch takes the place of the normal design where that piece is missing.
The 1900 guides list cuds without fixing a mint or clock position. A hit against the coin’s edge can also push metal upward, so the raised patch needs more study than a glance at its size.
Estimated Value
An estimated $150–$650 covers a genuine rim cud on a collectible circulated 1900 dime. The year guides place clear examples in the low hundreds of dollars.
The shape should be easy to see. A sound coin with an obvious rim connection is easier to compare than one with a bent or damaged edge.
This range estimates the whole coin, including its mint and wear. It is not a recorded auction price for one specific broken die.
How to Identify
Find where the patch joins the rim. Through a 10× magnifier, follow its border into the design and check whether normal detail disappears underneath it.
Turn the coin over too. Weak detail opposite the patch can support a cud, but small cuds do not always show that effect.
Use a scale and calipers to compare with the normal 2.50 grams and 17.9 mm. The 90%-silver coin should have a grooved edge; crushed grooves may reveal a later rim hit.
A low-angle photo helps show the height. Look for raised metal joined smoothly to the rim in place of ordinary design detail.
7. 1900 Barber Dime Repunched Date (Estimated Up to $800)
On one 1900-S dime, extra date strokes appear below parts of 1 and 9. Heritage described an earlier 1 below its serif and base, plus another 9 edge below the numeral’s middle.
This is a repunched date. The date punch entered the die twice in slightly different positions, leaving traces from the earlier placement.
The auction coin was graded ANACS AU53, meaning light wear, and called RPD-001. Philadelphia reports describe marks near 1 and 9 or the final 0, so those examples need separate comparisons.
Estimated Value
The ANACS AU53 1900-S RPD-001 sold for $139 at Heritage on March 4, 2024. Its AU grade indicates light wear.
Estimate $40–$800 for clear repunched dates on worn coins through lower-grade unworn examples. Better preserved punch traces and cleaner surfaces can raise the price.
Match the mint before using the auction result. A Philadelphia coin with different date marks needs its own comparison, even though both coins have the same error name.
How to Identify
Turn to the back first and confirm the S below the bow. Without that mintmark, the San Francisco coin’s date pattern is the wrong starting point.
Place 1 and 9 under a 10× magnifier. Inspect below 1’s small tip and base, then below the middle of 9, keeping both digits in your photograph.
This 90%-silver dime has a grooved edge. Use a scale and calipers to compare its original 2.50 grams and normal 17.9-mm diameter.
A shallow shelf beside a numeral may come from movement during striking. Begin with the extra shapes below both 1 and 9, making sure they match the pattern on the S-mint example.
8. 1900 Barber Dime Broadstrike (Estimated Up to $1,000)
A wide border around a complete design may indicate a broadstrike. The coin spread outward because the collar, which normally limits its width and makes the edge grooves, did not contain it properly.
The design can sit off center within that wider outline. Unlike an off-center strike, the design remains complete even when one border is wider than the other.
Mint Error News lists a large 1900 example in AU without naming its mint in the brief entry. A separate auction identifies a 1900-S broadstrike graded VF30 by NGC.
Estimated Value
A 1900-S broadstrike graded NGC VF30 sold for $341.60 at Heritage on March 23, 2026. VF30 is a circulated grade with clear major details.
For genuine circulated-to-AU examples, estimate $200–$1,000. Width, wear, mint, and surface quality all affect the comparison.
The AU magazine listing does not supply a sale price here. A wider coin is not automatically more valuable, especially if pressure applied after minting caused the expansion instead of a failed collar.
How to Identify
Check the outside letters first. A broadstrike should keep the design complete, even when it leaves a much wider border on one side.
An ordinary Barber dime is 90% silver and originally weighs 2.50 grams. Record its weight with a scale, then measure several directions with calipers against the normal 17.9-mm diameter.
The usual edge has grooves. Under a 10× magnifier, inspect the expanded border and edge for flattened designs or signs of later hammering.
Do not judge by width alone. Follow the complete lettering around the coin; an enlarged original border outside all of that design is the useful broadstrike clue.
9. 1900 Barber Dime Off-Center Strike (Estimated Up to $1,500)
Part of UNITED STATES falls beyond the edge on the fifteen-percent off-center 1900-S described by Heritage. The auction places the shift toward nine-thirty and grades the coin PCGS AU55 for light wear.
The blank missed its proper position between the dies. Only part received the designs, leaving an unstruck crescent next to the incomplete images.
The date and mintmark still identify the coin. Earlier reports describe other amounts or directions, so use the details of the pictured example rather than applying every reported percentage to one dime.
Estimated Value
The fifteen-percent PCGS AU55 coin sold for $862.50 at Heritage on January 15, 2005. AU55 means the coin has light circulation wear.
For genuine circulated examples with readable dates, estimate $350–$1,500. That old auction provides a reference for a clear error, not a fixed price for every small offset.
A strong blank crescent can improve the display. Damage, lost date digits, or a much smaller shift can reduce the appeal and change the useful price comparison.
How to Identify
Photograph the whole coin on both sides, keeping its edges inside the frame. The empty crescent should sit beside incomplete designs where part of each image missed the metal.
For the Heritage example, check the missing portions of UNITED STATES, the readable date, and the S on the back. A 10× magnifier helps separate untouched blank metal from later scratches or scraping.
Use a scale to compare with the original 2.50-gram weight and measure the outline using calipers. The normal 90%-silver dime is 17.9 mm with edge grooves, but an off-center strike can change its shape.
Check both faces for incomplete designs beside the same empty crescent; a shift on only one face points toward a misplaced tool.
Conclusion
Estimated values for these 1900 errors run from $20–$1,500. Small cracks can be modest purchases, while clear off-center strikes can reach the upper end.
Start with the whole coin. Check whether the design is complete and whether any metal is missing, then inspect both faces and the edge before comparing the date, mintmark, and condition with a priced example.