United States: 1844 silver Seated Liberty dime

United States: 1844 silver Seated Liberty dime

PCGS F15. Cert. #45061099. CAC verified.

Numista-9100, Krause-Mishler-63.

Mintage: 72,500.

Ex-David Lawrence Rare Coins, Item #2464581, 20 March 2023. Purchased in the slab.

With a mintage of only 72,500 pieces, the 1844 Seated Liberty dime is definitely a better date, and could perhaps be considered a "semi-key" date for the series. It is not, however, quite as rare as some numismatic mythmaking of the past once had it.

This date was referred to as the "The Little Orphan Annie Dime" in the early 1930s by editor Frank Ross, who promoted them by claiming the 1844 was overlooked and underappreciated (thus "orphaned"). Some sources say he was hoarding them at the time, but others say he was actually hyping the 1844 while hoarding the even scarcer 1846 dimes. Regardless, his nickname for the coin stuck.

This particular example is in relatively modest middle grade but has very nice original grey toning with some faint hints of color. As a Type collector, I will usually go for higher grade over rarity, but once in a while I do like to add a scarcer semi-key coin like this. The colorful "Little Orphan Annie" legend behind the 1844 dime also appealed to me.




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Anybody else have a “Little Orphan Annie” dime? Share ‘em!