Strange 1942 s Mercury Dime

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craigm2586
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Strange 1942 s Mercury Dime

#1 Unread post by craigm2586 »

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Hello..Craig from Maryland here..New to the forum and have an unusual 1942 s mercury dime..I have several 42 s mercs. so I have a lot to compare the one in question to.The s on the one im curious about seems larger and with the naked eye appears to be much closer to the last leaf and the "E" in "ONE"..the coin is in very fine condition so its clear to see that something is a little strange about it...after surfing the web for hours the only possible explanation I can come up with is that it is an inverted S 1942 Mercury dime..still not sure though so I thought id reach out and see what this forum had to say about it..I have attached a picture..on the left is the one coin im asking about and on the right is a common 42 s for comparison..

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Re: Strange 1942 s Mercury Dime

#2 Unread post by pahwa »

Hi Craig first of all welcome to the forum. You have found a great resource, Daniel and other here are very knowledgeable when it comes to these thing.

I am no expert when it comes to mercury's but i love them as coins. I myself spend more time with cents than with the silver coins. I am not seeing a huge difference between the two. What I am seeing is a softening of the devices n the left coin which leads me to believe that this coin may have been struck on a die that may have a little more wear on it. To me it appears to be two separate dies as the ax head (if that is what it is) the top bar of the ax is missing on the right coin and is in good condition on the left coin. Both are showing the usual wear from circulation. You know I am probably missing the whole point as like I said I don't look at the silver coins to much. Hopefully Daniel or someone else will chime in and give you a much better explanation (the correct one i am sure) for the coin.

Paul
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Daniel
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Re: Strange 1942 s Mercury Dime

#3 Unread post by Daniel »

Welcome to the forum.

You're correct that the mint mark is placed differently when comparing both coins. This isn't uncommon since the mint mark was punched with a hand punch and hammer into the die. Mint employees didn't always make it in the exact same spot and sometimes punched them upside down. However, you coin doesn't display an inverted mint mark.

I am not seeing much difference other than the MM placement. And as Paul stated some of this could be due to die wear, circulation wear and poor handling. One thing I will mention and you should remember, every single coin type has been counterfeited so you never know.

I found a 1924-S Standing Quarter that appeared to have a mint mark error and upon research I discovered it was counterfeit. This coin even weighed normal and is made of silver!

craigm2586
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Re: Strange 1942 s Mercury Dime

#4 Unread post by craigm2586 »

Thank you so much for your help...not a huge find but it still is cool..the older I get the more diverse my collection becomes...My dad got me into it as a child showing me all his wheat pennies and buffalo nickels..It seems like I cant get enough now..and my collection is growing rapidly...sometimes you look at these coins and think about how much the world has changed since that coin was minted is fascinating..to me at least..Thanks again for your feedback.
Craig

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Re: Strange 1942 s Mercury Dime

#5 Unread post by Daniel »

I feel the same way. I've been around coins all my life and can't get enough. Thanks for posting your coin!

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