CU-10c-1942-01R Cud

Description

Produced during the first full year of American involvement in World War II, this 1942 Mercury Dime carries the first cataloged reverse rim cud for the date. A piece of the reverse die fractured at the rim and broke away, leaving a raised featureless area along the coin's edge where Adolph Weinman's fasces and olive branch design should appear. The Mercury Dime, formally the Winged Liberty Head Dime, was in its twenty-sixth year of production in 1942, and the wartime economy's surging demand for coinage placed heavy pressure on die production schedules at the Philadelphia Mint. The "R" suffix designates this as a reverse break, where the iconic Roman fasces wrapped in an olive branch sustained the die fracture. Mercury Dimes maintained their 90% silver composition throughout their entire run from 1916 to 1945, unlike wartime nickels which shifted to a silver alloy during this period. As CU-10c-1942-01R, this variety holds the primary position in the reverse cud catalog for the 1942 date. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins for the Mercury Dimes 1916-1945 series.

Attribution History

• Discovered by USCoinCollector42 on CT
• Cross reference number: none. 08/21/2018.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References