1982 No-P Roosevelt Dime

Specifications

Denomination: 10 cents
Series: Roosevelt Dimes
Designer: John R. Sinnock
Years of issue: 1982
Composition: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Weight: 2.27 g
Diameter: 17.9 mm
Edge: Reeded
Key mintages: Error issue; exact mintage unknown. Estimates run as high as 10,000 released of ~75,000–150,000 struck; a single die pair with expected life ~75,000 sets the upper bound (PCGS CoinFacts).

Melt value: $0.02copper $0.44/ozt · prices as of Sep 16, 2026

Circulated examples trade around $60 and Mint State gems $300 or more (PCGS CoinFacts); an NGC MS67 sold for $630 in 2022 and the record — a Heritage MS68 — brought $2,185 in 2004 (Nasdaq). Check any 1982 dime: the mintmark area just right of the date should be blank, and it must be a business strike — then get it certified, because Strong vs. Weak strike changes the value.

What it is

The 1982 No-P Roosevelt dime is a 1982 Philadelphia dime struck from an obverse die that never received its “P” mintmark — the first missing-mintmark error ever to occur on a U.S. coin made for circulation (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Philadelphia began placing its “P” mintmark on dimes in 1980, when the Mint standardized mintmark usage across denominations. The error matters only because the P was supposed to be there: Philadelphia had struck mintmark-less dimes routinely before 1980, so the date — 1982 — is what makes the coin an error (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).

How it happened

A Mint employee failed to punch the P into an obverse dime die, and the omission slipped through the inspection that was supposed to catch exactly that. The die went into production and thousands of mintmark-less dimes escaped into circulation (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Specialists divide the issue into Strong and Weak strikes. The current thinking is that the Weak coins were struck first; the press operator then increased striking pressure to improve quality, which created the better-struck Strong coins — and the increased pressure may have cracked the die, at which point the die was pulled and production ended. The Strong variety is generally considered the more numismatically significant of the two (PCGS; GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-17).

How to identify

Blank mintmark area: look just right of the date — it should be blank where the P should be, on a coin with full mint luster. This is a business strike; proof-like surfaces are not part of this variety (research notes; PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Strong vs. Weak matters: Strong strikes show sharp detail with the date set apart from the rim and are scarcer and worth more; Weak strikes are mushy with the “2” weak and closer to the rim. Certification is what the market relies on for this attribution (PCGS; GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-17).
The 1-o’clock die crack: Toledo coin dealer Clyde Englehardt, who handled some 1,500 of the coins at their height, noticed the die crack at 1 o’clock on the obverse that marks the error’s die — a key forensic clue (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).

Authentication red flags

Not an S-mint error: a circulated 1982 dime with no mintmark is always a Philadelphia product — do not confuse this with an S-mint error (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Pre-1980 dimes are not errors: Philadelphia struck mintmark-less dimes routinely before 1980, so a blank mintmark area alone proves nothing without the 1982 date (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Misattribution is the main risk: no alteration scheme is documented in the manifest research — the practical risk is a coin being sold as the more valuable Strong strike when it is actually a Weak strike. Because Strong vs. Weak changes the value, certification is what the market relies on (PCGS; GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-17).

Notable examples

1982 — the first U.S. circulation-coin error with a missing mintmark: a die escaped Philadelphia without the “P” introduced in 1980 (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Two populations: Sandusky, Ohio (8,000–10,000, Strong strike, late December 1982 — discovery credit shared by Walter Placzankis, Andrew Macdonald, and Lane Durkee; many given out as change to visitors at the Cedar Point amusement park) and Pittsburgh (3,000–5,000, Weak strike, August 1983). Both groups were traced to mint bags that came from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, with later finds in Boston as well (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Institutional specimens: in 1987 Clyde Englehardt donated examples to the American Numismatic Association and to the Smithsonian Institution; his periodicals and inserts later anchored PCGS’s research (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Record: MS68 sold for $2,185 at Heritage in 2004; an NGC MS67 sold for $630 in 2022; PCGS MS66 examples have sold around $300 (Nasdaq; accessed 2026-09-17).

What drives value

Unknown mintage: the exact mintage is unknown, though PCGS CoinFacts cites estimates of as many as 10,000 released out of roughly 75,000 to 150,000 struck — a single die pair with an expected life of about 75,000 circulation strikes sets the upper bound, and the cracked die may have kept the real total lower (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).
Strong vs. Weak: the Strong variety is generally considered the more numismatically significant of the two, and the market prices them accordingly (PCGS; GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-17).
Grade tiers: PCGS CoinFacts reports an ungraded Extra Fine example typically sells for $60 while a Mint State Gem or better can command $300 or more; PCGS MS66 examples have sold around $300, an NGC MS67 brought $630 in 2022, and the record — a Heritage MS68 — sits at $2,185 (2004) (PCGS; Nasdaq; accessed 2026-09-17).
Institutional recognition: the 1987 donations to the ANA and the Smithsonian give the error a documented, museum-level pedigree rare for a modern circulation find (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17).

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Specifications

Denomination: 10 cents
Series: Roosevelt Dimes
Designers: John R. Sinnock (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-17)
Year / Mint: 1982, Philadelphia (struck at Philadelphia; bears no mintmark in error) (PCGS; accessed 2026-09-17)
Mintage: None published — error issue; exact mintage unknown. Estimates run as high as 10,000 released of ~75,000–150,000 struck (PCGS CoinFacts; accessed 2026-09-17)
Composition: Copper-nickel clad: outer layers 75% copper, 25% nickel; core pure copper (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-17)
Weight: 2.27 grams (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-17)
Diameter: 17.9 mm (GreatCollections; accessed 2026-09-17)
Edge: Reeded
Alignment: Coin alignment