does anyone know if a 1942 D nickle is valuable?

Answer 1

You have a silver wartime nickel. During World War II nickels were made from 40% silver. In the very least your nickel will at least be worth silver bullion value. Silver spot prices can be found here (please see the edit at the bottom this information is not correct):

http://www.coincommunity.com/spot_prices/
http://www.nwtmintbullion.com/
http://www.apmex.com/

Without seeing pictures it's very difficult for anyone to give you a good answer. A lot depends on the condition of your coin.

1 - Take your coin to a local coin dealer (trustworthy ones can be found - shop around, get second opinions). It never hurts to get a second opinion. They will be able to tell you so much more by evaluation the condition of the coin. They will also know the amount minted and what it is going for in today's market.

2 - Try posting pictures on this website (there are many experts here that can help you evaluate it - there also may be people willing to buy if you are trying to sell):
http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/default.asp

3 - Repost this question and include pictures. You can use websites like photobucket.com and include the link in your question.

Good luck!

P.S. Do not clean your coin as this can drastically effect the value.

*EDIT: Taiping is right. This is not a silver nickel. My bad, I was just going through years in my head and did not double check. Silver nickels started in 1942 but only with the "P" and "S" mint marks.

Answer 2

The 1942-D nickel is not a silver nickel. That year the Denver mint only struck the type that was .750 copper and .250 nickel. Due to the change over to the war time silver alloy that year the Denver mint only stuck 13,938,000 nickels in 1942. So the coin has a trends price of $3 to $10 in very fine to almost uncirculated grades. A trends price is about what a coin sells for not what a dealer would pay. they pay 40 to 50% less. There is also a rare D over Horizontal D varieity. The denver mint did not start to strike the Silver wartime nickels until 1943. You have a coin that has more historic value than monetary one. !942 was not a good year for the U.S., it looked like the Japanese would soon be on the west coast. Too bad your nickel could not talk, for it must have a story to tell. I would keep it for the only place the value can go is up.

Answer 3

Less than a buck in a circulated contition, Up to 50 bucks if brilliant and UNcirculated.