1942 S Mint Mark Question

[fcloud]

Here is an image of the mint marks used in 1942 for the San Fransisco Mint.

When Comparing them to 1941 and 1943 the first one is considered the large one for 1941, and the Trumpet Tail for 1943.

Does anyone recognize these two style for 1942, or is it just a fluke and about half the mintage is one version and half the mintage is the other?

Edited to add these are on Mercury Dimes.

[wavysteps]

Not really a fluke. The first one was used on the 1941 coinage and part of the 1942 coinage until it was to worn to be used. The Mint then introduced the second mint mark punch during 1942, which lasted until 1943. That was eventually changed when that one wore out. The one odd year was i946, which had three mint mark punches in use; the serif, the ball serif and the sans serif.

BJ Neff

[fcloud]

Thanks, BJ, for the info. I frequently wondered what was up with those styles.

[jello]

I know the small S is the rarer of the 2

[rockdude]

Here is a list of all the San Fransisco mintmark styles for those years;

(Small S) used from 1917-1941, (your second coin)
(Trumpet Tail Serifs) used from 1941-1942 and again in 1945-1952, (your first coin)
(Straight Serifs) used from 1943-1944
(Ball Serif) used from 1944-1946
(Sans Serif) used from 1946-1947

[errorman]

I'm still learning how to tell the difference in the mint marks,is there a site for this?

Thanks JIM

[errorman]

I just research the web, I found a good site on this topc, Lincoln cent resources,it describes the mint marks,now I have a site that I could learn from

JIM