Owner Comments:
The Roosevelt Dime was introduced in 1946, shortly after the conclusion of World War II, and less than a year after the death of the 32nd President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. This represented the fourth circulating denomination to change its design from a depiction of Liberty to that of a former President.
The obverse of the Roosevelt Dime features the head of Franklin D. Roosevelt facing left with inscriptions “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, and the date. The reverse of the coin features a lit torch with sprigs of olive and oak to either side. The inscriptions include “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, and “One Dime”.
When introduced, the coins were minted in a composition of 90% silver and 10% copper, although this was changed in 1965 to a composition of 91.67% copper and 8.33% nickel. During the series, coins have been produced at the Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point Mints.
The Roosevelt Dime series is both approachable for new collectors and interesting for advanced collectors. For beginners, series does not contain any costly key dates, so a basic set can be assembled without much difficulty. Collectors looking for more of a challenge can seek to assemble a set of fully struck coins carrying the Full Torch or Full Bands designation. Many issues of the series are exceedingly difficult or impossible to find as such.
“Full Bands” or “Full Torch” are grading designations which can be applied to circulation strike Roosevelt Dimes. In general, the attribution indicates a coin with a strong, well defined strike, as evidenced by full details of the torch located on the reverse of the coin.
In addition to requiring the upper and lower pair of horizontal bands to show full separation, it's also required that the vertical lines of the torch must be defined.