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Roosevelt dimes: 1964 silver vs 1965 clad
Same Roosevelt, different metal. 1964 and earlier dimes are 90% silver. 1965-on circulating dimes are clad. The portrait did not change. The year did.
A Roosevelt dime is the ten-cent piece with FDR, first struck in 1946 after Mercury. John Sinnock’s design is still in your change. The metal is not.
1964 and earlier circulating Roosevelt dimes are 90% silver — same junk-silver spec as a Mercury or a Barber dime. About 0.07234 oz silver each. Ten of them are $1.00 face. Shops count worn 90% at 0.715 oz per $1.00 face. 90% vs 40% vs war nickels.
1965 and later business strikes are clad. Copper core, cupro-nickel skin. A copper stripe in the edge. No silver melt. Silver proofs in later sets are collector strikes, not a junk bag.
The edge check
If the date is worn, look at the edge. Silver is a solid silver-colored edge. Clad shows copper. That is faster than arguing about the portrait.
Melt pages
Live melt for the last silver year: 1964 dime. First clad year: 1965 dime. Full types: Roosevelt 90% and Roosevelt clad. Melt is the metal. A shop still looks at 1996-W and other collector dates.
Mercury dimes are a different type with the same 90% math: Mercury dimes.