1892 Barber Dime

After more than five decades, the Seated Liberty design on the dime was about to be replaced by yet another representation of Miss Liberty. The U.S. Mint directed Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber to create a new design for the coin, which many people in the public had long wanted to see redesigned. The result was the Liberty Head dime, which features the a bust of Miss Liberty on the obverse and a wreath encircling the words “ONE DIME” on the reverse – extremely similar to the reverse design of the Seated Liberty dime type.

The first year of production for the Barber dime was relatively strong. Below is a breakdown of mintages and values for 1892 Barber dimes:

• 1892 – 12,120,000; $5

• 1892-O – 3,841,700; $16

• 1892-S – 990,710; $70

• 1892 proof – 1,245; $600

*Values are for coins in a grade of Good-4, unless otherwise noted.

As a first-year type coin, there is a little extra pressure from coin collectors who want an example of the 1892 Barber dime. Add on top of that the Barber dime series collectors who are trying to acquire each of the date-and-mintmark combinations, and that pushes up the values of the scarcer issues. In this case, those would be the 1892-O and 1892-S dimes. The proof 1892 dime, like all proof coins of its vintage, is quite scarce though typically only sought by die-hard series enthusiasts.