1939 Dime Error List with Pictures

The small D on the back can be the most valuable detail on a 1939 dime. PCGS records a $2,795 fixed-price eBay sale for a high-grade repunched-D example in November 2018.

The 1939 Mercury Dime errors below span estimated values of $10–$5,000, with the top range reserved for a confirmed wrong-blank coin. Keep reading to learn which extra lines, missing details, and metal flaws deserve a closer look.

1. 1939 Mercury Dime Missing G in the Motto

The motto can appear to read IN OD WE TRUST when the G is weak or missing. One 1939 report describes this appearance without establishing its cause.

Grease or debris can fill part of a stamping tool and stop that letter from forming clearly. However, wear or later damage can also remove detail from a finished coin.

Nearby letters and the surrounding surface help distinguish those possibilities. A missing G alone does not identify the material that blocked a strike.

This is a reported missing-letter coin, with a possible blocked-tool explanation rather than a proven grease diagnosis.

Estimated Value

If the missing letter came from a blocked stamping tool, estimate $10–$60 for an otherwise ordinary 1939 dime. A particularly clear example on an attractive coin may approach $100.

These are estimated whole-coin prices for a minor missing-detail error, not a recorded sale of the reported coin. Ordinary wear or later damage would remove the proposed error premium.

A seller’s dramatic nickname for the missing G does not change that distinction.

How to Identify

Compare the G area with OD, WE TRUST, and the nearby portrait under a 10× magnifier. If other high points are heavily worn, circulation offers a simple explanation for the missing letter.

Look for scraping, flattened metal, or a dent crossing the former G. A blocked tool can leave weak detail without the same impact damage.

Inspect the grooved edge for crushing that could explain damage near the motto. On a loose coin, a scale and calipers should show roughly 2.5 grams and 17.9 millimeters.

Those measurements do not prove grease was involved. Preserved neighboring detail and an undamaged surface where G should be provide the useful first test.

 

2. 1939 Mercury Dime Raised Mark in the Date

An extra raised mark can appear among the date digits without forming a second date. A 1939-D example is described in a specialist sale list as a gouge in the stamping tool.

The tool, called a die, stamps the coin’s design into the metal. A gouge cut into that tool can fill with coin metal and leave a raised copy.

That makes this different from a scratch cut into the finished dime. The reported mark’s exact shape and affected digit are not established here.

Do not assume that every line beside 1939 belongs to this example.

Estimated Value

A small genuine raised tool-gouge mark is estimated at $15–$75. A clearer example with attractive unworn surfaces can fall around $75–$150.

A clear raised shape with original metal around it makes a better comparison than a faint mark beside damaged digits. Its appeal lies in the small extra-metal feature, rather than a major striking accident.

Much of an especially well-preserved coin’s value may come from its condition. A later scratch should receive no tool-error premium.

How to Identify

Tilt the date area slowly under a single light, then inspect it with a 10× magnifier. The extra feature should rise from the coin rather than form a groove cut into its surface.

Check the D mintmark on the back before comparing this report with your coin. Examine the digits themselves to see whether the mark is separate from their normal outlines.

A scale and calipers should place a loose ordinary dime near 2.5 grams and 17.9 millimeters, with grooves around the edge. Use those checks to notice alteration, then compare the raised date-area shape with an identified example rather than guessing a catalog match from any nearby scratch.

 

3. 1939 Mercury Dime Peeling Metal beside UNUM

A shallow piece of metal can peel away beside UNUM on the back. This reported 1939 flaw is a lamination, meaning layers within the coin’s alloy have separated.

The dime contains 90% silver and 10% copper mixed together. Impurities or weak bonding can leave a thin layer that later lifts or flakes off.

The missing patch can interrupt the design without splitting the entire coin in two. An older “split planchet” label should not be taken as proof of complete separation.

The reported example comes from a seller’s description. Its peeling boundary matters more than that label.

Estimated Value

Estimate $15–$80 for a modest natural peeling area on a worn 1939 dime. A larger, clearer flaw on an attractive coin can reach roughly $80–$250.

These are estimates for silver-alloy peeling, not a verified auction price for the UNUM example. Condition, the amount of missing metal, and whether an attached flap survives affect value.

A scraped patch or damage caused by forcing a layer open should not receive the same error premium.

How to Identify

Leave any attached flap alone. Lifting it can break off metal and reduce the coin’s appeal.

With a 10× magnifier, follow the missing layer beside UNUM and compare its boundary with the surrounding lettering. A natural shallow separation differs from a gouge with metal piled up around its edges.

If the coin is loose, weigh it against the normal 2.5 grams on a scale. Lost silver can reduce weight, but a small missing flake may make little measurable difference.

Use calipers gently across an intact diameter near 17.9 millimeters and inspect the edge grooves for scraping. The useful check is a thin, naturally separated layer beside the lettering, without a tool-made cut explaining it.

 

4. 1939 Mercury Dime Doubled Dates and Lettering

The date may look thicker on its inner edges, or small details may have a second outline. These changes can come from a doubled design on the steel stamping tool.

Philadelphia ordinary coins have several small date-doubling patterns. Specially made collector coins called Proofs also have a stronger thickening pattern around the date and AW initials.

Denver examples include front-side thickening and a separate back-side variety affecting words, dots, and stars. Those patterns do not describe one combined coin.

One older Philadelphia label, FS-101, was removed from a later guide. The underlying cataloged doubling remains a separate identification question.

Estimated Value

For ordinary coins with correctly identified small doubling, estimate $20–$250. A recognized variety on a specially made Proof can reasonably fall around $150–$800, including the Proof coin’s normal value.

Compare the coin’s quality as well as its doubling. Clean surfaces and a clearly matching pattern support stronger prices than weak detail hidden by wear.

A flattened shelf beside a digit can come from movement during striking. That common appearance should not be priced as the cataloged doubled design.

How to Identify

First establish whether the coin is an ordinary strike or a specially made Proof. A shiny surface alone is insufficient, because polishing can make an ordinary coin look reflective.

A loose genuine coin of either type should remain near 2.5 grams and 17.9 millimeters on a scale and calipers, with a grooved edge. Then choose a comparison from the same mint and finish.

Use a 10× magnifier on the inner edges of the Philadelphia date digits. For the Proof pattern, compare the thickened date and AW initials before the weaker lettering.

Denver back doubling instead affects the words, dots, and stars. Match one complete pattern and its nearby small tool marks, rather than combining features from several catalog entries.

 

5. 1939 Mercury Dime Off-Center Strikes

A portion of the coin can remain blank while the portrait and lettering are cut off on the opposite side. The blank entered the press too far to one side.

Off-center 1939 dimes appear in year-specific reports, but those reports do not establish one measured percentage or clock position here. A large undated Mercury dime cannot be assigned to 1939 merely because it looks similar.

The design should be displaced on both faces. A shifted front tool can produce an uneven front border while the back remains centered.

A readable 1939 date is especially useful for this reported type.

Estimated Value

Small genuine shifts are estimated at $75–$350, while dramatic examples with readable dates can fall around $500–$2,000. The upper range assumes an attractive, authenticated coin.

A different-year Mercury dime provides a useful comparison: a 1943 example struck 40% off center sold for $1,680 in July 2021. That result does not establish a sale or a 40% shift for 1939.

Coins with missing dates or later damage need separate, usually more conservative pricing.

How to Identify

Verify that 1939 is readable before estimating how far the strike moved. An undated crescent-shaped error cannot establish this year on appearance alone.

Turn the coin over and compare the unstruck areas on both faces. A matching displacement supports an off-center strike, while a centered back suggests a different problem.

A 10× magnifier should show a natural transition from untouched metal to the pressed design. Check the edge grooves where that transition reaches the rim.

Weigh a loose coin on a scale: a complete blank normally starts near 2.5 grams. Calipers can compare its outline with a normal 17.9-millimeter dime, allowing for uneven spreading.

A readable date plus matching blank areas on both faces is the practical first confirmation.

 

6. 1939 Mercury Dime Repunched Mintmarks

A second D can show above, below, or beside the main Denver mintmark. Workers added these letters to stamping tools with a hand punch, sometimes leaving an earlier impression visible.

The FS-501 variety has a D remnant below the main letter. Other Denver varieties show different directions or different positions relative to the nearby leaf.

A San Francisco S/S is also reported, without a secure professional catalog number or direction here. It should not be given the Denver pattern.

Small placement differences in a single mintmark are normal. The extra punch remnant is what makes the error.

Estimated Value

Ordinary examples are estimated at $20–$300, with exceptional recognized varieties reaching roughly $500–$3,000. Grade and sharply separated central bands can contribute heavily to that upper range.

PCGS records a $2,795 sale for a 1939-D FS-501 graded MS65 Full Bands in November 2018. The transaction was an eBay Buy It Now purchase, not competitive auction bidding.

The reported S/S deserves a variety premium only after a genuine extra S impression is established.

How to Identify

For FS-501, inspect the space immediately below the D with a 10× magnifier. Full Bands on a grading label refers to separate central straps on the back, not to the mintmark itself.

The D’s position relative to the leaf helps distinguish similar downward repunches. One pattern places the main D farther into the leaf, while another just touches its bottom.

Check a loose coin with a scale and calipers against 2.5 grams and 17.9 millimeters, and examine its grooved edge for alteration. Then compare the extra letter with a photograph of the same catalog number: a nearby notch or an oddly placed single D is not sufficient.

 

7. 1939 Mercury Dime Wrong Coin Blank

A dime design on the wrong piece of metal can look unusually large, small, or differently colored. It happens when a blank intended for another coin enters the dime press.

The 1939 report lists this error type without establishing a particular certified example or replacement blank. Copper-cent, foreign-coin, and quarter blanks must therefore not be treated as proven 1939 specimens.

The normal dime is a silver-copper alloy, not a copper core with bonded outer layers. Odd color alone can come from toning or later treatment.

A true wrong-blank coin needs physical evidence that identifies its different metal or dimensions.

Estimated Value

For a confirmed 1939 wrong-blank dime, use a conditional estimate of $1,000–$5,000. The actual blank, remaining date, condition, and strength of the identification would determine its place within that range.

As a different-series comparison, a 1957 Roosevelt dime on an El Salvador one-centavo blank sold for $4,080 in July 2022. That coin does not prove the reported 1939 type.

No wrong-blank premium should be assigned to a merely discolored ordinary dime.

How to Identify

Start with measured weight and diameter, using a scale and calipers on a loose coin. The normal 1939 dime is about 2.5 grams and 17.9 millimeters across.

Record the actual readings instead of substituting another denomination’s standard specifications. Wear and lost metal can lower weight without changing the original alloy.

Inspect the edge with a 10× magnifier for plating, filed grooves, or an exposed surface coating. Then compare how the dime design fits on the available metal.

If the readings suggest another alloy, professional metal testing can help identify it without cutting the coin. Matching the measured metal and dimensions to a different blank is stronger evidence than color alone.

 

Conclusion

A close look at the date, back-side mintmark, and coin’s edge can separate several very different mistakes. The estimated $10–$5,000 range includes modest surface flaws and a conditional wrong-blank value.

Compare ordinary coins with ordinary coins, and specially made Proofs with Proofs. Keep any unusual dime uncleaned, record its weight, and seek an expert opinion before treating a seller’s error label as established fact.