I don't know where to begin. I'm sitting here drooling over the coins you guys have posted. Outstanding. Thanks for sharing them. My biggest problem with seated dimes is, there's so darn many of them. I know a started collection would remain an unfinished collection until after my ashes cool.
Not only are there lots of them, but there are a few real stoppers and some semi-stoppers, particularly in high AU and MS grades. That's exactly why I only collect these by type. But, if you wanted to collect by date only, not date and mint, then you could probably assemble a decent mid-grade circulated set for a reasonable amount and not take 20 years to do it. For example, a quick look in my 2019 Red Book shows that in VF-20 and collecting P-mint only, the only coins that cost $500 or more are 1844, 1846, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866 and 1867. But for some of those dates, you can get a branch mint coin for much less.