1796 Draped Bust Dime. JR-2. Rarity-4. MS-62+ (PCGS).This is a premium quality Mint State early dime that is knocking on the door of a Choice grade. Otherwise brilliant surfaces are enhanced by iridescent champagne-apricot peripheral toning that is more extensive on the obverse. Striking quality is superior for the type with most design elements sharply to fully detailed. Smooth in hand with soft satin luster, there is much to recommend this coin to the advanced type collector.Authorized by the Act of April 2, 1792, regular issue dime coinage commenced at the Philadelphia Mint with a delivery of 14,520 coins on January 18, 1796. Additional deliveries came on February 13 (1,750 coins), March 30 (1,680 coins), April 9 (2,750 coins) and May 27 (1,435 coins), for a total mintage of 22,135 dimes for calendar year 1796. According to some numismatic scholars, as reported in the 1984 reference Early United States Dimes: 1796-1837 by the John Reich Collectors Society, the deliveries of February 28 (3,864 coins) and March 21, 1797 (6,380 coins) may also have been from 1796-dated dies. If true, the total mintage for this issue would be 32,379 pieces.As the first regular issue dime in U.S. coinage history and one of only two issues of the Draped Bust, Small Eagle design type, the 1796 is very popular. Winston Zack, Louis Scuderi and Michael Sherrill (Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide, 2015) offer an estimate of 800 to 1,200 coins extant in all grades. Mint State survivors of the issue are rare, especially relative to the strong demand among high grade type collectors and early dime enthusiasts alike. The present example is destined to serve as a highlight in an advanced cabinet.PCGS Population (all die marriages of the issue): 1; 40 finer (MS-68 finest).