1942 Mercury Dime

The story of the 1942

Output at Philadelphia climbed to 205,410,000 in 1942, from 175 million the year before. The next year it made 192 million (1943).

It was the big producer of the year, well ahead of 1942-S (49 million) and 1942-D (61 million).

Philadelphia struck the Mercury Dime in 27 issues between 1916 and 1945. By mintage this one lands in the more common half, while the key for that mint is the 1921 (1,230,000). Within the 1940s it's 17th smallest of 18, between the 1943 (192 million) and the 1944 (231 million).

More on the 1942

Philadelphia struck 205,410,000 dimes in 1942, more than in any earlier year, so the ordinary coin is about as common as a silver dime gets. The reason to look closely is the 1942/1 overdate, which is counted in that total. A collector in Kingston, New York found the first one in circulation and it was announced in March 1943.

To check your coin, look at the final digit under magnification. On the overdate, the base and upright of a 1 show beneath the 2. The 4 is strongly doubled with a small notch. Doubling also shows on parts of IN GOD WE TRUST and on the Y of LIBERTY. Many fakes have been made by tooling the date of an ordinary 1942, so compare all of these markers, not just the 2. A genuine overdate carries a significant premium even in worn grades, while a normal 1942 is worth its metal value in circulated condition and a small premium uncirculated.

Wartime records, the overdates and the last year (1942 to 1945)

World War II pushed dime production to record levels. Philadelphia struck 205,410,000 in 1942 and 231,410,000 in 1944, the highest mintage of the series. The three mints together made 1,223,928,000 Mercury dimes dated 1942 to 1945. Even the smallest issue of the era, the 1945-D, came to 40,245,000. Unlike the nickel, the dime kept its 90% silver alloy throughout the war.

The famous 1942/1 overdates belong here. One working die at Philadelphia and one at Denver received an impression from a 1941 hub and then another from a 1942 hub, leaving traces of a 1 under the final 2. The Philadelphia coin was found in circulation and reported in 1943. It is the bolder of the two. The Denver version is fainter and was not reported in print until 1960. Both are included in their regular mintages and carry a significant premium. Proof dimes ended with 22,329 struck in 1942 and proof coinage stopped for the rest of the war.

After President Franklin Roosevelt died in April 1945, the Treasury chose the dime for his portrait and the Mercury design ended with the 1945 coins. Two things to check on the late dates: the 1945 Philadelphia dime is very common but rarely found with fully split bands. The 1945-S comes with a normal S or a much smaller Micro S, made with a punch first cut for coins struck for the Philippines.

Elsewhere in US coinage in 1942

Nickel was needed for the war, so from October 1942 the five-cent coin was struck in an alloy of copper, silver and manganese. These war nickels carry a large mint mark above Monticello, the first use of a "P" mint mark.