1982-P

The 1982-P Roosevelt dime came out of the Philadelphia Mint at 519,475,000 pieces, the lowest Philadelphia output of the early 1980s and a meaningful production drop from the prior two years as the Mint adjusted to early-decade economic conditions and recession-driven coinage demand reductions. The 1982-P is the standard mintmarked Philadelphia dime for the year and stands in contrast to the famous 1982 No Mintmark variety, where a small number of Philadelphia obverse dies entered production without receiving the P punch and produced one of the most prominent modern US die errors. Specification matched the established clad standard of 2.27 grams, 17.9 millimeters, and cupronickel-clad composition over a pure copper core, with the P mintmark properly seated above the date on regular production.

Authentication on the standard 1982-P confirms the P mintmark is present and well-defined above the date. The clean presence of the mintmark distinguishes the routine coin from the famous No Mintmark variety, and weight checks against the 2.27 gram clad specification rule out any planchet substitution. Full Bands designation on Mint State examples requires complete horizontal separation of the torch bands, and the date carries no significant business-strike varieties beyond the headline No-P error treated separately.

The 1982-P trades at low prices through MS66 from original Mint sets and dealer-broken roll stock; in heavily circulated grades the date is common to abundant. The meaningful price tier opens at MS67 Full Bands, where the certified population is smaller and registry-grade competition supports condition-rarity premiums. The 1982-P pairs naturally in date sets with the 1982-D and serves as the comparison standard for collectors evaluating raw 1982 dimes for possible No-P variety candidates, the presence or absence of the P punch is the single attribution check, and the standard 1982-P provides the baseline against which a possible variety coin gets evaluated. For the broader context of the 1980s production-quantity adjustments, see the Roosevelt Dime series history.