By William T. Gibbs
COIN WORLD Staff

Liberty never wore her hair completely free and unfettered by a ribbon or turban on the first dimes, unlike the allegorical figure on the Flowing Hair half dimes, half dollars and dollars. Instead, Liberty appeared in her Draped Bust guise on the first dime (or disme, as it was alternatively spelled then) in 1796, her hair restrained (though only lightly) by a ribbon bound in back.

Dimes took a somewhat different design path than did the half dimes. Introduced as they were two years after the first half dimes, half dollars and dollars, the 1796 dimes went into production with the Draped Bust design, introduced in 1795 on the silver dollar and in 1796 on the half dime, quarter dollar and half dollar.

Like the half dimes of 1794 through 1805, the first dimes (1796 through 1807) bear no representation of their 10-cent denomination, either on the Small Eagle reverse of 1796 to 1797 or the Heraldic Eagle reverse of 1798 to 1807. The Draped Bust obverse design was used with both reverse designs. The Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle designs were replaced in 1809 with the Capped Bust, Lifted Wings dime, the latter designation given to the eagle reverse in Early United States Dimes: 1796-1837, the standard reference work on the subject. Unlike the two previous reverse designs, the Lifted Wings reverse bears a denominational marking in the form of 10 c. (the C. is the abbreviation for "Cents"). Both designs were used through 1837, although slight modifications were made when the close collar was introduced to replace the open collar about 1827 to 1828.

The five authors of Early United States Dimes: 1796-1837 believe that the classification of Capped Bust dimes as Large Diameter and Small Diameter varieties is incorrect. Instead, they believe the changes in diameter resulted from changes in minting equipment, specifically the collar, in the late 1820s.

Prior to 1828, edge designs were applied to silver planchets in a separate process before striking (generally). Planchets were placed into a Castaing machine, which applied the reeding, lettered inscription or other edge design appropriate for the denomination and date.

In order to not damage the edge design elements during striking, an open collar was used. The opening in the collar was larger than the planchet. During striking, the metal of the planchet spread slightly, but not to the limits of the open collar (as long as the planchet was centered properly on the anvil die).

The introduction of the close collar, however, changed minting procedures. The open collar was replaced with a close, reeded or grooved collar with a smaller opening. The planchet spread during striking, with the metal of the edge flowing into the grooves inside the collar. The use of the close collar eliminated the need for the open collar and Castaing machine, since the designs for all three sides of the coin – obverse, reverse and edge – were generated at the moment of striking.

The authors of Early United States Dimes find no clear separation between Large Diameter and Small Diameter dimes. Instead, they find a gradually reducing diameter from 1827 to 1832, and a gradually increasing diameter from 1834 to 1837. They believe the open collar and close collar explain the differences in diameter.