Silver Dime
$3.85
The dime is physically the smallest Canadian coin. It is worth twice as much as the larger nickel and ten times more than the larger (late) penny. The composition of these 1942 dimes is 80% silver. Each dime weighs 2.33 grams and includes 1.864 grams of silver making each dime worth more like $4.81.
In Halifax, where I am from, there is a coin shop where you could just walk in and ask for 10 dimes from 1942 and they would go to one of those cabinets with many small drawers that people keep screws and washers in and they would go to the dime section and pull out the drawer for 1942 and there they were. How many do you want? I know this because my dad once gave me a penny book where you were meant to collect a penny from every year starting in 1858 and going into the 2000’s which was the future then. I tried to find as many as I could in my pocket change then in the stein my dad kept his pocket change in and finally in a miniature novelty Heineken keg my Uncle had filled with pennies. The eighties were a cinch, seventies too and the nineties took no time at all. The sixties were tough, fifties even more difficult and so on. Eventually, to get the early years and to fill gaps, my dad took me to the coin shop in Halifax with the small drawers.
There was no such store in Montréal where I now live so these dimes came from the coin shop in Halifax. I called them up and I told them what I was looking for. I asked for well-circulated coins that showed wear but when they arrived in the mail they had little wear so I started carrying them in my pocket. I carried them for months. Actually, I am still carrying them now. It has been stressful because I am constantly worried that I will accidentally spend or lose one. I have counted them over and over to make sure they are all there. I was doing ok but eventually one disappeared and I had to order a replacement. The replacement is much more worn then the others and doesn’t match. Carrying them has dulled the original 9 so it was worth it. Plus, when you buy one you know the artist kept it in his pocket for months.
The dimes have the Bluenose on the tails side and Kind George VI on the heads side. King George VI looks handsome and youthful in side-profile with a pronounced part in his hair. The Bluenose is pretty as always.