1878 Dime Error List with Pictures
A Carson City doubled-back dime in well-preserved unworn condition, graded NGC MS65, reportedly sold for $7,930 at Heritage in 2026. The reported result comes from an auction-price index.
The 1878 dime errors below have estimated values of $30–$8,500. Some add extra outlines, while heavy polishing of a stamping tool can make wreath details disappear.
Read on to match the mint and back-design version before checking the date, letters, and raised lines.
1. 1878 Liberty Seated Dime Die Clash (Estimated Up to $400)
Faint extra shapes can appear on the front or back of a Philadelphia dime with the Type II back design. Type II is a catalog name for one version of the reverse design.
The reported examples include different coins, not one universal set of marks. Each needs its own comparison.
A clash occurs when the two dies, the steel stamping tools, hit each other without a metal disc between them. They can pick up parts of the opposite design.
Later coins receive those unwanted shapes. A random scratch or straight polishing line does not establish this kind of contact.
Estimated Value
A confirmed Philadelphia example has an estimated value of $30–$400 from circulated through lightly worn condition. Visible transferred shapes may add modest collector interest.
This is an estimate, not a recorded sale of a specific illustrated coin. Clear surfaces make the faint effect easier to study.
The high Carson City doubled-back sale discussed later is a different mint, grade, and mechanism. It should not be used as a price for these Philadelphia clashes.
How to Identify
Place complete front and back photographs beside each other at the same size. Use a 10× magnifier to find whether an extra shape echoes the opposite design.
Keep separate reported coins separate: a front mark from one example cannot prove a back mark on another. Match the Philadelphia Type II design as well.
Inspect the edge grooves and compare a scale and calipers with the original 2.50 grams and roughly 17.9 millimeters. This issue is 90-percent silver.
Change the light to distinguish raised detail from recessed scratches. A recognizable opposite-design fragment in the right position supports a clash more directly than an unexplained line.
2. 1878 Liberty Seated Dime Repunched 1 (Estimated Up to $2,000)
Small raised remnants sit beneath the top flag and bottom base of the date’s 1 on the recorded ordinary-strike variety. Fortin illustrates this Type II example graded PCGS MS64.
The earlier date punch landed slightly differently on the steel stamping tool. Parts of that impression remained below the final numeral.
Coins made by that tool could repeat the extra lines without receiving two separate strikes. This is called a repunched date.
A specially made collector Proof also has a repunched 1. Its own outlines need a separate comparison rather than borrowing the ordinary coin’s photograph or grade.
Estimated Value
Ordinary-strike examples have an estimated value of $50–$800 from circulated through attractive unworn condition. Collectible Proofs in lower to attractive grades have a separate estimate of $600–$2,000.
These ranges distinguish finish and preservation. They are not guaranteed prices for any coin with an extra-looking date line.
The PCGS MS64 illustration establishes an example but supplies no sale here. Clear remnants, original surfaces, and a full variety match support the comparison.
How to Identify
Study the 1 with a 10× magnifier while keeping the whole date clearly visible. On the ordinary-strike example, look below both its top flag and its bottom base.
Compare the Type II F-102 pictures. A small lower-right wreath crack may add support, but does not turn a shiny circulation coin into a Proof.
Inspect the edge grooves and use a scale and calipers against 2.50 grams and roughly 17.9 millimeters. The alloy is 90-percent silver.
Two matching raised remnants below the 1 identify the ordinary-strike pattern; the Proof requires its own date comparison, and a flat shelf alone is insufficient.
3. 1878 Liberty Seated Dime Die Cracks (Estimated Up to $2,500)
Raised lines near the lower wreath can mark cracks on Philadelphia dimes. Reported routes include the lower-right area, the lower wreath, and lines spreading outward across the back.
A Carson City example instead has a front line from the rock toward the area right of UNI in UNITED. Its back also has cracks.
These are breaks in the steel stamping tools. Silver entering the gaps leaves raised ridges on the coin.
Polishing a tool can remove shallow details while deeper crack traces remain. A scratch or an opening in the coin itself is a different feature.
Estimated Value
Philadelphia crack examples have an estimated value of $30–$500 in circulated to lightly worn condition. Comparable Carson City pieces are estimated at $250–$2,500.
The mint’s basic coin value accounts for part of the difference. A PCGS XF40 Carson City F-104 appeared in a 2025 auction with extensive back cracks.
No public sale result is used here for that coin. Its cracks and polished-away wreath detail belong to one coin and do not create two full valuations.
How to Identify
Read the mintmark before choosing a crack route. On Carson City, follow the line from the rock toward the right of UNI, then examine the matching back.
For Philadelphia, choose the appropriate lower-wreath or outward-spreading crack picture. Do not substitute the Carson City path.
A 10× magnifier and side light should reveal raised ridges following the recorded connections. Inspect the edge grooves and compare scale and caliper readings with 2.50 grams and roughly 17.9 millimeters.
The original alloy is 90-percent silver. Connected raised lines matching the correct mint and design version support a tool crack; an isolated bright scratch does not establish the same pattern.
4. 1878-CC Liberty Seated Dime Overpolished Reverse (Estimated Up to $3,000)
Some leaves on the left wreath look unusually incomplete on the 1878-CC F-104. The steel stamping tool had been heavily polished before it made the coin.
This Type II back tool had already been used in 1877. Polishing lowered its surface and removed shallow recesses that normally formed fine design detail.
Deeper cracks could remain, so missing leaves and raised crack lines can appear together. The finished 1878 coin need not have been polished.
Its date and full pattern still matter. A similar-looking 1877 coin or a dime rubbed smooth later is not the same example.
Estimated Value
Confirmed F-104 examples have an estimated value of $300–$3,000 from circulated through lightly worn condition. A reported PCGS AU53 sale brought $1,440 at Stack’s Bowers in November 2024.
That result compares the same variety, including the Carson City mint and complete pattern of missing detail. It is reported through an auction-price index.
Surviving cracks can support the identification. Each crack or missing leaf does not add another whole-coin value to the price.
How to Identify
Compare the left wreath with a normal Type II back at equal size. Look for selective loss of shallow leaves while neighboring details remain.
Use a 10× magnifier and movable light to search for fine abrasive scratches from polishing the finished coin. A tool-polishing pattern should instead match the reference across the design.
Confirm 1878 and CC, inspect the edge grooves, and compare a scale with 2.50 grams and calipers with roughly 17.9 millimeters. The coin is 90-percent silver.
Matching missing wreath details together with the surviving cracks identifies F-104 more securely than faint leaves alone on an otherwise unmatched dime.
5. 1878 Liberty Seated Dime Doubled Die Reverse (Estimated Up to $8,500)
Extra outlines appear in different places on the recorded doubled-back varieties. Philadelphia Type I examples include doubling near I in DIME and the lower-right wreath.
Another has a weak left foot on E as a separate identifying feature. Weakness alone is not doubled detail.
A Philadelphia Type II example shows lower-left wreath doubling; Carson City Type I concerns ONE DIME. These locations belong to different stamping tools and design versions.
The extra outlines were already on the tools before the coins were struck. Each coin needs the matching picture rather than a combined list of every reported location.
Estimated Value
Greysheet reports a $7,930 Heritage sale in 2026 for the Carson City Type I doubled back graded NGC MS65. Estimated Carson City values run from $300–$8,500 across circulated and excellent unworn examples.
Separate Philadelphia varieties have an estimated range of $75–$1,200. Mint, grade, and the specific pattern determine the useful comparison.
The Carson City result is not a universal premium for any doubled-looking letter on an 1878 dime.
How to Identify
Identify the mint and back-design version first. Philadelphia’s I and wreath locations cannot identify Carson City’s ONE DIME pattern.
With a 10× magnifier, compare letter and leaf outlines with the selected reference. Look for rounded repeated detail instead of a low, flat shelf beside the main shape.
For the variety with a weak left E foot, find actual doubling elsewhere as well. Inspect edge grooves and use a scale and calipers against 2.50 grams and roughly 17.9 millimeters.
The original alloy is 90-percent silver. Matching repeated outlines across the specific letters or wreath area establishes the chosen variety; missing or weak detail by itself does not.
Conclusion
The estimated $30–$8,500 range covers modest Philadelphia features and valuable Carson City doubled-back coins in high grades. Match mint, design version, and condition before choosing a price comparison.
Look for raised numeral remnants, connected crack lines, copied opposite-side shapes, or repeated letter outlines. Selective wreath loss needs its own matching pattern, and a weak letter does not become doubling simply because both appear on one variety.