1893 Dime Error List with Pictures
A dime sold under the traditional 1893/2 name reached $11,500 in 2006. Its MS66 grade describes an unworn coin with few marks.
This 1893 dime error list also includes repeated mint letters, misplaced strikes, and a remarkable cup-shaped coin with a backward portrait. Estimated whole-coin values run from $25 to $25,000.
The cup’s published $25,000 figure was an asking price. Read on to separate what each coin shows from the explanations attached to its name.
1. 1893-O Barber Dime Die Crack (Estimated Up to $1,800)
A raised line on an 1893-O dime can record a crack in the die, the steel tool that stamps coins. Silver entered the opening during striking and formed a ridge.
The New Orleans report does not establish one fixed route across Liberty or the wreath. Each cracked tool leaves its own pattern.
Follow the line where it crosses nearby letters or pictures. That relationship tells more than how dark the line looks in a photograph.
Scratches, corrosion, and ordinary wreath stems can also resemble lines. They need to be separated from metal raised by a broken stamping tool.
Estimated Value
The estimated whole-coin range is $25–$1,800, from worn examples to attractive unworn coins. The date, mint, and condition contribute most of the amount.
An ordinary 1893-O graded NGC MS65 is indexed at $1,680 in September 2024. MS65 describes an unworn coin with relatively few marks.
That sale compares the underlying coin. It does not establish the pictured crack or a separate price for one small raised line.
How to Identify
Keep full pictures of both sides so the O and suspected crack clearly belong to the same coin. Use a 10× magnifier to follow the line across the surface.
Tilt the light and check whether it rises above the silver. A scratch cuts inward, while corrosion can create irregular pits and edges.
When safely accessible, compare scale and caliper readings with 2.50 g and 17.90 mm. Inspect the edge grooves for filing or other alteration.
Then return to where the ridge meets a letter or picture. It should continue naturally as part of the struck metal.
The useful clue is that raised, continuous relationship to the surrounding design. This report does not require a particular clock position or one exact crack route.
2. 1893-O Barber Dime Off-Center Strike (Estimated Up to $2,500)
A blank crescent should be paired with missing design on the opposite side. Together they can show that the blank sat outside its intended position when struck.
The public 1893-O report describes an off-center coin without giving its percentage or direction. Those details should come from the actual example.
The date and O mint letter are both important. A large shift that removes either one makes this exact year-and-mint identification harder.
A wide or uneven border alone is different. It does not prove that the design missed the coin, so both sides and the full outline need inspection.
Estimated Value
The estimated whole-coin range is $200–$2,500, from modest worn offsets to larger attractive examples with a readable date and mint letter. Clear original blank metal helps show the error.
A 1902 off-center Barber dime graded ANACS AU50 sold for $561.20 in June 2026. AU50 means light wear.
That different-year coin provides a recent comparison for the same kind of mistake. The 1893-O date, mint, condition, and actual displacement still need their own assessment.
How to Identify
Find 1893 and the O before estimating how far the strike moved. Compare both faces within the same coin outline.
A blank out of position affects both designs. A misplaced front stamping tool can instead leave the back centered.
Use a 10× magnifier along the boundary between struck detail and blank metal. Look for trimming or filing that removed finished design afterward.
A complete design within a wide outline can indicate a broadstrike, a different error. Check the edge grooves around the blank area too.
When safely accessible, measure the actual outline with calipers against 17.90 mm and compare scale weight with 2.50 g. The key relationship remains untouched metal opposite corresponding missing design, with the correct date and mint letter still visible.
3. 1893 Barber Dime Repunched Mintmark (Estimated Up to $6,000)
An earlier S appears to the right of the final S on the San Francisco variety. Wexler’s reference links it with the FS-501 name.
The mint-letter punch entered the stamping tool more than once. Its earlier position remained and appeared on the coins produced afterward.
A separate report lists O-over-O for New Orleans. The S variety’s rightward direction should not be copied onto that O report.
Movement during striking can also flatten an edge around a repeated mint letter. That may make it look tripled without proving three separate punch impressions or three different errors.
Estimated Value
The estimated range for S-over-S is $75–$6,000, from worn coins to very well-preserved unworn examples. An MS65 sold for about $5,463 in January 2005.
For a genuine example of the separately reported O-over-O, the estimated range is $35–$1,800. It covers worn through attractive unworn coins.
The O estimate uses the New Orleans coin’s market and modest interest in the extra letter. It does not borrow the San Francisco auction result as an O-over-O sale.
How to Identify
Examine below the wreath with a 10× magnifier after confirming the mint letter. On the San Francisco variety, look to the right of the main S for extra S-shaped curves.
Compare them with a clear FS-501 picture. A flat shelf around the whole letter suggests movement during striking rather than another complete punch.
For New Orleans, require an O-shaped remnant and check for added metal, corrosion, or damage. Its direction must come from that example, not from the S variety.
Use a scale and calipers when safely accessible against 2.50 g and 17.90 mm, then inspect the edge grooves. The clearest S-variety match is the extra curve immediately to the right of the final S.
4. 1893 Barber Dime Date-Punch Varieties (Estimated Up to $12,000)
Extra detail in the lower loop and base of the Philadelphia date’s 3 gave rise to the familiar 1893/2 name. PCGS still uses that name.
Research on a Proof, a coin specially made for collectors, supports a repeated 3 rather than a 2 underneath. The visible marks remain collectible even though the explanation differs.
San Francisco also has its own repeated-date varieties. They must be matched with their own pictures.
Neither the Philadelphia nickname nor the Proof research determines what appears on an S-mint date. Keep the mint and type of coin attached to each comparison.
Estimated Value
Estimated ranges are $100–$12,000 for Philadelphia regular strikes, $600–$12,000 for matching Proofs, and $50–$3,000 for San Francisco repeated dates. Regular strikes were made for everyday use.
The traditional Philadelphia variety reached $11,500 in MS66 in 2006. An NGC MS64 with CAC quality approval brought $3,480 in December 2020.
An NGC Proof-61 sold as 1893/“2” is indexed at $960 in March 2026. Its lower condition grade helps explain why the old high result is not a minimum.
How to Identify
On a Philadelphia coin, inspect the lower opening and base of the final 3 with a 10× magnifier. Compare the slanting and lower remnants with a clear variety picture.
Describe the shapes you see without assuming that the traditional name proves a 2 lies underneath. For an S-mint coin, choose its separate date comparison.
Keep collector Proof pictures apart from regular-strike pictures. A reflective surface alone does not prove that a coin was specially made for collectors.
Check an accessible coin with a scale and calipers against 2.50 g and 17.90 mm, and inspect the edge grooves. For the traditional Philadelphia variety, the useful visible match is the extra structure inside and below the 3, with the full date agreeing.
5. 1893 Barber Dime Cupped Broadstrike with Reverse Brockage (Estimated Up to $25,000)
Liberty appears twice on this coin: raised normally on the front and sunken backward on the back. The second image formed when a blank pressed against an already struck coin.
That transferred picture is called a brockage. The dime also has a cup shape and a split near ten o’clock.
The PCGS AU55 coin was offered as a die cap with back-side brockage. AU55 means slight wear.
Experts interviewed by Coin World also described a cupped broadstrike. The shape alone does not establish that it stayed attached to a tool and struck more blanks.
Estimated Value
The estimated range is $8,000–$25,000 for this unusual combination. The published 2015 dealer offering asked $25,000; the later sold listing does not disclose the amount paid.
A different 1898 Barber dime die cap graded PCGS MS61 sold for $8,235 in January 2026. MS61 describes an unworn coin with many marks.
Its mechanism and surfaces differ from this 1893 piece. That sale supplies a comparison, not a direct price for the cup-shaped brockage.
How to Identify
Compare both portraits under a 10× magnifier. The back image should be backward and sunken, while the front portrait remains raised normally.
Take a side view of the cup and inspect the split near ten o’clock. Compare those features with photographs of the recorded example.
Later bending or pressing one coin against another can create misleading shapes. Check the surface, opposite face, and edge for crushing or other signs of that treatment.
Use a scale and calipers when safely accessible against 2.50 g and 17.90 mm, allowing for expansion. Inspect the remaining edge grooves and split without flexing the coin.
The distinctive combination is the sunken mirror portrait, cup shape, and matching split on one specimen, rather than a bowl shape alone.
Conclusion
Estimated values for these 1893 features span $25–$25,000, with the highest published cup price remaining a dealer’s ask. Small mint-letter remnants and major shape changes need different comparisons.
Check the extra S to the right, the marks inside the Philadelphia 3, or the backward portrait on the cupped dime. Keep debated explanations attached to the correct example.
A clear view of the whole coin makes each small close-up more useful.