1942 Mercury Dime Proof
Proof struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 22,329 made
- Mintage
- 22,329
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 2.5 g
- Diameter
- 17.9 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1942 Mercury Dime Proof worth?
It's scarcer than a typical date, so even circulated examples sell above face and above their metal value. The best uncirculated coins are where the money is.
What would make yours worth more:
- Grade and, for proofs, strong cameo contrast
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1942 Mercury Dime Proof rare?
- Fairly. The Mint made 22,329 for collectors. Most were kept in their original packaging.
- Is the 1942 Mercury Dime Proof silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1942 Mercury Dime?
- On the reverse, to the left of the base of the fasces. Philadelphia dimes have no mint mark.
- How many 1942 Mercury Dime proofs were made?
- 22,329.
What to check on your 1942
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Judge the grade under good light. Look at the hair above Liberty's forehead and the bands across the fasces. Fully split, rounded center bands ("Full Bands") bring large premiums.
Proofs from 1942 were struck one at a time in small numbers and many were later spent or mishandled. Look for hairlines from cleaning, which lower the grade.
The story of the 1942
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.
How to recognize it
Weinman's Liberty faces left in a close-fitting Phrygian cap with small wings, which he meant as a symbol of liberty of thought, not a portrait of the god Mercury. LIBERTY arcs over her head, IN GOD WE TRUST sits in small letters below her chin at the lower left and the date is at the lower right. His AW monogram appears between the date and the Y of LIBERTY. The reverse shows a fasces, a bundle of rods wrapped around an ax blade and tied with bands, with an olive branch for peace curling around it. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs along the top, ONE DIME across the bottom and E PLURIBUS UNUM at the right. The mint mark, when there is one, sits at the lower left of the fasces. The coin is 17.9 mm across with a reeded edge.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Mercury Dime (1916–1945) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Proof |
| Mintage | 22,329 |
| Face value | 10¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 2.5 grams |
| Diameter | 17.9 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0723 troy oz (2.250 g) |
| Designer | Adolph A. Weinman |
Other 1942 Mercury Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 Mercury Dime | 205,410,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
| 1942 Mercury Dime (Overdate, 2 over 1, 1942/1) | – | Variety | 0.0723 oz |
| 1942 Mercury Dime Proof | 22,329 | Proof | 0.0723 oz |
| 1942-D Mercury Dime | 60,740,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
| 1942-D Mercury Dime (Overdate, 2 over 1, 1942/1-D) | – | Variety | 0.0723 oz |
| 1942-S Mercury Dime | 49,300,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.