1919 Mercury Dime. FS-101. Doubled Die Obverse. EF-40 (PCGS).This variety was unknown to the wider numismatic community until it was featured in a pair of <em>Coin World</em> articles in February 2015. The discovery is co-attributed to New York collectors Scott Kerr and Jeffrey Sam, the former apparently recognizing the variety on a 1919 dime in the 1980s, although he chose to set the coin aside and not publish his finding at that time. In January 2015 Kerr sold a group of error and variety coins to fellow coin club member Sam, who took pictures of the 1919 dime included therein and began publishing them online. On February 8 Tom DeLorey saw the photos and recognized the variety as a Doubled Die, which was confirmed by Bill Fivaz after Sam sent him the coin at DeLoreys suggestion. By the end of that month a second example had been discovered by coin dealer John Hodson of Munster, Indiana. The Kerr-Sam discovery specimen grades Fine, while the Hodson example is EF. During the two and a half years that have passed since these initial discoveries only a few other examples of this exciting Doubled Die have been confirmed, and as of this writing there are only 15 grading events for the variety at PCGS and NGC combined. All known examples are circulated, the finest certified a PCGS EF-45. This is the earliest known Doubled Die in the Mercury dime series, and it has been given the attribution FS-101 by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton and will be included in subsequent editions of the authors popular reference <em>Cherrypickers Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins</em>.The diagnostic of this variety is prominent doubling to the letters N in IN, GOD, and RUST in TRUST in the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. No other features are doubled. The doubling on the 1919 FS-101 dime is very similar to that seen on the famous and rare 1916 FS-101 Doubled Die Obverse Buffalo nickel, and both varieties appear to have been created the same way. The doubling occurred when a complete design was hubbed over an incomplete design during preparation of a working obverse die. The coin offered here -- the first example of the variety that we have handled -- ranks among the finest currently known. It is a boldly and evenly toned coin with overall sharp detail and the doubling clear and fully discernible with the aid of a loupe. The surfaces are generally smooth and have weathered a short stint in circulation uncommonly well for an early date Mercury dime. This is easily one of the most important Mercury dimes that we have offered in recent memory, and it is a coin that will excite series specialists and variety collectors alike.
