I must be Dunce of the Day!  Is there a simple, on car, test for the coil without special tools?

What I have:  1954 Merc, stock 256, 6 volt, positive ground.
Problem:  No power to the distributor (points).  There is power to the ignition terminal on the coil with the ignition switch on.  The coil to distributor wire is intact and properly connected and just to be sure, I used a by-pass jumper wire to verify.

Test for ohms resistance of the primary winding between + and - terminals, and test ohms resistance of the secondary winding between either terminal and the coil output terminal. Typical values might be 1 or 2 ohms and 8k for primary and secondary. Ignition coils do fail though not very often.

Thanks for the reply, Tedster.  I am way NOT handy with a multi-meter but I think I figured it out.  Is the test conducted with the ignition switch on or off.

Lanny, test the ohms with the ignition switch off.  Also, disconnect the small wire to the distributor so you won't get a false reading through the points.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Thanks, John.  I just came back into the house after testing again.  I got a reading of zero across the plus and minus terminals and a 7.8 across the center of the coil to either + or -.  However, I am not sure what this tells me.

A "0" reading across the primary (+/-) terminals would indicate a faulty coil because of a completely open circuit. If the two terminals were connected with a solid wire, you would read a "1" on the ohm meter. A reading of "0" indicates just the opposite, no connection at all.

Not really, A "0" indicates continuity, either a direct short or a resistance so low that the meter cannot resolve it. An open is infinity (infinity symbol is an 8 on it's side) which would be no meter movment at all (same as having the meter leads connected to nothing.
 
With the small lead going to the distributor disconnected and the key on, tap the empty coil terminal to ground, do you get a spark (this proves power and a coil that at least conducts) , if so with the points open (or a matchbook between then) tap the small distributor wire to the empty terminal, do you get a spark. If so you have a ground in the distributor, could be a shorted condenser.

Passed the above tests then rotate the engine till the points are closed, tap the small distributor wire to the empty coil terminal, you should get a spark, if not you may have a bad wire to the points or the points are so fowled that they are not really closing.   1 other thing to check is the ground strap on the breaker plate, is it intact. A missing strap could (not likely) let the plate become insulated from ground.

All the above tests sound like a lot but they are really simple and no meters required

You are correct, I checked my meter and I had remembered/posted in reverse of actual. I apologize.

Gene, Its confusing and almost counter intuitive that "0" is a closed circuit with no resistance,   the mind sees it the other way around Lol 

Kevink, thanks for the input.  I did get a spark with the matchbook in place and now will pull the distributor again to check out ground wire and replace the condenser.

However, I discovered in examining the dist. cap that the rotor has been making contact with the lower faces of the wire towers.  I checked the dist. end-play while still installed and found there was none so it seems that the dist. shaft extends a bit too far into the dist. housing causing the rotor to strike the inside of the cap.  Not too sure what to think of this but will maybe know a little more upon removing the distributor.  Any thoughts?