Disme 1792, Coin from United States - detailed information

The 1792 Disme (pronounced "deem" or "dime" according to various sources) is an American silver coin with a face value of ten cents which was produced in 1792. The Coinage Act of 1792, passed on April 2, 1792, authorised the mintage of a "disme", being one-tenth the silver weight and value of a dollar. The composition of the disme was set at 89.24% silver and 10.76% copper. In 1792, a limited number of dismes were minted but never circulated. Some of these were struck in copper, indicating that the 1792 dismes were in fact pattern coins. The first dimes minted for circulation did not appear until 1796, due to a lack of demand for the coin and production problems at the United States Mint (these were struck in Philadelphia while the mint building was still under construction, and no proper equipment had been installed yet).

The word "disme" comes from the Old French disme (now dîme, in modern American English: dime), meaning "tithe" or "tenth part", from the Latin decima [pars]. The word only appears on a half disme which was actually struck in some quantity, and on patterns (copper and silver) but never on another U.S. coin. The modern word "Dime" did not appear until 1837 on the Half Dimes and Dimes.

The obverse die was created by Adam Eckfeldt; Robert Birch was likely responsible for the reverse die. Henry Voigt did the actual coining. Only three examples in silver are known, all with different weights:
- 41.5 grains (equal to 2.69 grams), certified AU50 by NGC
- 39.5 grains (2.56 g), certified Fine 15 by NGC
- 66.1 grains (4.28 g), struck on a thick flan, certified XF Details by NGC

There are also copper versions, with plain or milled edge.