1942-D Mercury Dime (Overdate, 2 over 1, 1942/1-D)

The story of the 1942-D

More on the 1942-D

Denver's version of the 1942/1 came from a single working die that, like its Philadelphia counterpart, received impressions from both a 1941 and a 1942 hub. The underlying 1 is much fainter on the Denver coin, which helps explain why the first published report did not appear until 1960, nearly two decades after the Philadelphia overdate was found. It is included in the 1942-D mintage of 60,740,000.

Look for the ghost of a 1 within the base of the final 2 and doubling in the 4, using strong light and magnification. Most known examples circulated, since collectors had no reason to save them for nearly two decades. The Denver overdate is generally considered slightly scarcer overall than the Philadelphia coin and is a condition rarity in uncirculated grades. Because the marks are subtle, a coin should be authenticated before it is treated as the variety. A genuine piece carries a significant premium.

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.