Finding Dimes: What Could The Spiritual Meaning Be?

What does it mean when you find a dime? In this post, we explore the significance of dimes and the afterlife, along with the spiritual meaning of finding dimes.

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When I wrote a poem about the story of my good friend Phil’s passing and subsequent visit to me from the afterlife (if you don’t believe in this sort of thing, you’re welcome to stop reading now), I mentioned finding dimes. We had a remarkable flurry of finding dimes in the months after he passed, too frequent to be coincidental.

The dimes would show up at random times in unusual places, a single dime on a table-top or the middle of the floor. If we talked about my friend or just finding the dimes with friends or family members, we’d notice a dime when we walked into another room, or returned home.

The placement of the dimes appeared deliberate, neatly lined up in the center of a surface, heads up, very visible. The dime finding got to be so frequent that we’d just say, “Oh, hello!” when we’d discover one. Just joking around, but really not, you know? Our interpretation for finding dimes was that it was a message of some sort.

The most telling example of these strange things was when we returned from a long bike ride with Pete’s best friend and his wife.

We had ridden the bike trail from our house to downtown Minneapolis, enjoyed dinner on a rooftop overlooking the city.

On the return trip, my friend and I left our husbands behind on the bike trail, and I confided that I’d been “visited” by Phil’s ghost and that we’d been finding dimes everywhere. I mentioned I was reluctant to share this, but she assured me she believed every word and thought that perhaps I had a guardian angel.

As we rolled up the driveway to our house and lowered our kickstands we looked at the cement step of our front stoop.

Right in the middle on the step’s edge, heads up, was – you guessed it – a dime.

Other placements were in the middle of the driveway directly in front of the garage door, and on the side door’s step. It must have been that Phil was hanging around outside as well as visiting inside.

After a while, the dime discoveries tapered off a bit, but there were still occasions where Pete and I would be finding a dime heads up during a meaningful moment. The phenomenon of dimes appearing out of nowhere got to be something we’d remark upon, but were comfortable with.

One of the most significant was when we were seated getting ready for takeoff on our trip to Alaska. We always get adjoining aisle seats if we can, and there in the middle of the plane’s aisle right between us after we settled in, was a shiny dime. I pointed at it during takeoff and we just looked into each other’s eyes. There was nothing to say.

Another time, we realized that special dimes could make an appearance outside the United States. We were riding a bus in Russia (we were visiting for the Winter Olympics in Sochi) in the very front seat. There was a flat little platform between us and the stairway exit. Lying right there was a Russian 10 kopek coin. Check the photo below! When you find a dime – or their equivalent of a dime – in a place like that, you tend to notice!

We’ve definitely experienced finding dimes everywhere. I just remembered another dime story: when we moved to the island of Kauai in 2013, Pete was moving stuff around on the back lanai of our rental house: old pots and containers that had been left by the previous tenants. He picked one dirty old empty pot up and there was a solitary dime underneath it on the cement. Of course, I didn’t get a photo because he didn’t tell me about it until much later – he likes to play the skeptic!

We got the idea to design a remembrance box for folks who want to keep their dimes. It comes in three sizes: 2 inches x 2 inches,  5 inches by 4 inches and 7 inches x 7 inches square. You can even customize the date on the dime image to make it very personal. Medium and large dime boxes come in several lovely wood finishes.

Obviously, this doesn’t answer the question of what does it mean when you find dimes, but you might want to keep a list with notes about what year the dime was minted, where you found it, how you were feeling around the time you found it, were there any milestone events in your life at that time, etc. I wish we had started to do that when we began to find dimes everywhere, but we just didn’t know!

What does it mean when you find dimes randomly like this? I wish I would have researched this phenomenon back then, but it never occurred to me to do so.  On occasion I would share these examples with people and just as likely as not, would get a condescending little smirk in reaction.

There were some who believed that there was a correlation with the beyond, and some who most emphatically did not. I tended not to mention additional sightings to those who did not, but did share a couple of instances with Pete’s family when we sat around the dinner table and the subject of ghosts came up. We would speculate if these were a validation from spirit guides in the afterlife that we were on the right path. Or perhaps they were a message that good things or positive change would come after a hard time. Too bad there wasn’t a specific date attached to these predictions!

Finding Dimes: A Journey of Faith, Hope, and Prayer – Maureen McCormick McHugh – Google Books

This little book chronicles a woman’s journey to understanding the spiritual meaning of finding dimes. If you read the Amazon reviews, many of them (just like in the comments on this post) tell of finding dimes after a death of a loved one. Most started out with the realization of “hey, I keep finding dimes” and then began to keep track of just when and where, just as we did. It’s validating and heartwarming to see that others have had similar experiences.

One year in June I returned to Michigan to attend what my side of the family was calling “CousinFest 2010.” We were on the main outing, all we cousins, which was a Leelanau County winery tasting tour. I opened the car door to get into the back seat of a vehicle with my oldest cousin, I spotted a dime on the floor between us.

“Look,” I said, jokingly.  “Someone from the spirit world is telling us they’re pleased we’re together today.  I wonder if it’s your mom or mine?”  We chuckled and I put the dime in my purse, thinking surely it fell out of the console where they might keep spare change for a toll or something.

We proceeded into the next stop and were gone for a while.  Back in the car again, and there’s a dime on the seat between us.  Now that was spooky.  I wouldn’t put it past one of my knucklehead rellies to have put it there as a joke, but they would’ve ‘fessed up by now.

Finding dimes in strange places after someone dies is actually quite common. In July of 2010, we lost Pete’s mom, Joan, not unexpectedly, but still rather suddenly. In the shock of the next few days, a family friend, Jill, whom Joan had treated as a daughter, was very distraught as they’d been on vacation when Joan passed.

Jill and her family rushed to our home without stopping at theirs upon arriving into town and we had an emotional visit. Then, they proceeded to their house to unpack and settle in.  Turning down her bed covers that night, Jill found a dime. Now it’s kind of hard to imagine she wouldn’t have noticed it laying there on the flat sheet before she pulled the covers up to make the rest of the bed. And of course, there was nobody in the house during the week that they were on vacation, either. How would you explain it showing up in this unexpected place?

Pete’s dad began finding dimes in odd places right away, too.  One appeared on the table beside his favorite chair, one of a pair in their living room where they would frequently sit together while Joan was ill.  Another was under his shoes as they lay beside the bed ready for him to swing his feet into upon awakening.  Another dime was discovered in the lawn at the cabin, just at the moment he looked down at his feet.

By now, we were all on the lookout for dimes.  We suggested everyone make a clean sweep of tabletops and landing places, so we could start an analysis from scratch.  Several more were discovered at the cabin, which is the family’s special place, and at home.

In August of that year, Pete and I decided we would retreat to our beloved Minnesota North Shore.  I wrote about our meaningful experiences in our series, Looking Into Forever – Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.   Those posts were very difficult to write, as they contained very powerful experiences, messages and reminders.

I didn’t tell you that while Pete was breaking our camp for the last time on our last day, he found a dime all by itself in one of the tent’s mesh pockets, one of the craziest places ever! We had never used them for spare change whatsoever.

The following year, Pete’s dad passed away in January. When the family gathered together at our home for my birthday in June, I was surprised that there was a gift for me with his name on it. Pete’s sister explained that he had seen the necklace and had set it aside for a birthday gift because he knew I would like it.

Jokingly, I looked up at the ceiling and said, “Well, thank you, Dennis!” and then went into the kitchen to serve cake and ice cream. As I returned into the dining area, there on the carpet was a dime. Now I had vacuumed the floors thoroughly anticipating guests that morning. How do you suppose that dime got there?

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At findingdimes.org, we’re told by a commenter,

“There is an old adage that says “Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is proof.” So I feel like something is going on here. This is not random. There is a reason why I am finding these dimes. Someone is sending me these dimes. I’m not sure exactly who. Or exactly why.”

Another commenter responds,

“Dimes are a sign of love from someone who has passed on and it’s their way of sending encouragement and peace.”

Another reference I found provided these anecdotal insights:

“Last night a dime suddenly dropped in my house. But the weird thing is…I am from Europe. I have never been in USA.”

“When I find a dime I look to see which side it is on. If it is on the flame side(the torches) I take that to mean direction. The torches are a trinity, a number of completeness. I know that wherever I was in my mind at the moment I found the dime is something I should consider and know that the creator is listening.  If it is on heads I take that to mean “face it.” Face where I am at the moment and except it. I know this may sound silly but since I have been finding dimes for a long time I gave them this significance. I’m glad to know that I am not the only one that finding dimes is weird.”

and this (wishful?) insight:

“Pay phones only used to cost a dime to call somebody… Spirits are asking you to call them. That’s the honest truth.”

Evidently, many people tattoo themselves with a dime and a significant date after a loss.  There are many comments supporting the practice and acceptance that this is a sign throughout the older entries in InkedBlog. The dime tattoo meaning varies.

Wilder theories abound in another forum:

“In numerology the numbers 1-9 are used as well as the double digit (master) numbers 11,22,33 and so on. I think that finding a dime could signify a new beginning. In numerology you take the numbers down as far as they go, so 10 would be 1+0=1. The end of the single digit cycle, and the beginning of the double digit cycle. It’s a perfect number. A perfect balance of positive and negative. The Yin and Yang of the number world. So. Take finding dimes as a sign of change (quite literally).”

and

The meaning of number ten deals with returning to our center, coming full circle. Ten holds a vibration of unity, as well as fresh starts.

If the number One symbolizes the beginning (& it does), then we can say that the number Ten represents the outcome, result, or achievement of that first step or beginning.

The most profound message number Ten hails is “whatever we sew, we shall now reap.” In other words, “what comes around goes around.”

Ten also represents fulfillment, attainment, and completion. These attributes are obtained by observing the Ten containing all the elementary numbers from 1 to 9. As such, Ten is a vessel holding all the jumbled up potential found in the language of numbers.

Ten is also a bit slippery because reduced – it turns back to number One – hence, again – a full circle, coming to the beginning – finding unity (all is one, one is all).

That you are picking up a great deal of dimes is quite a good sign. Specifically, dimes may be symbolic of shiny opportunities coming your way that you once thought were lost to you.

Remember Tens are strong representation of recycling events (full circle) – a dime is a superior symbolic symbol of such phenomenon. Consider how many times a dime (or any money for that matter) is recycled through our society.

Symbolic dimes provide messages of lost opportunities regained. Things we thought we should not or could not do are beginning to resurface. Our energies are being recycled. Our intellectual currency is on the brink of change.

Shiny, bright and round…these dimes on your path are beacons of promise. They hold the meaning of number Ten firmly in their vibration and that is: “Events are coming full circle. Cast off the old, and don the new. Step into the beginning that is for your greatest good.”

It’s quite a lot to think about, isn’t it? So much so, that I’m not sure what to think what the possible interpretations could be. However, I remain very willing to believe these instances are not mere coincidence.

A couple of weeks before I initially wrote this post, one of our close friends was over and mentioned she and her husband were going up to the North Shore on their anniversary weekend.  Did I have any recommendations for her? I walked into my office and picked up our heavy North Shore notebook to get out a brochure for her. A dime flew out. It had been on the top page in the looseleaf binder. How did it get there?

About the same time, in an attempt to declutter, I’d been consolidating. When I opened a dresser drawer that hadn’t been used in months, amid all the other items was a lonely dime.  No other spare change.

What does it mean when you find a dime? Can all these instances of finding a dime be explained away by a non-believer? Certainly. I don’t think we’ll ever know, even though there are anecdotes and tales of dimes appearing mysteriously in the strangest places, and literally in thin air while people were showering (with no pockets for a dime to fall out of), in locations far away where they were unlikely to be, and in the exact spot where your first glance would fall.

We’ll probably never completely know the spiritual significance of dimes for sure.  I’m hoping, though, I’ll find out once I reach the afterlife so that I can continue the practice with those for whom I care so much who remain here after me. Even if I’m wondering what does it mean to find a dime now, maybe we can all decide what the message will be before I go!

For more great ideas, check out the carefully curated items we’ve selected in PassingThru’s Amazon Store.

Have you ever had a similar experience that you took to be a message from beyond?  Did you know there is even a Facebook community on Finding Dimes?

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