1943 Lincoln Cent--Overstruck on a 1943 Mercury Dime--MS-62 (NGC).This intriguing and rare double denomination error is ranked No. 39 in the popular reference <em>100 Greatest U.S. Error Coins</em> by Nicholas P. Brown, David J. Camire and Fred Weinberg, where it is described as: "<em>A breathtaking coin to see, this double denomination combines the popularity of not only the Lincoln cent and the Mercury dime, but also the 1943 date (caused by the desirability of the famous 1943 copper cents....). This example, like other wrong-planchet, off-metal strikes, resulted from overlooked coins being left in tote bins. From there it was a simple matter for this dime to be mistakenly fed into a press coining cents.</em><em>"This nice brilliant Uncirculated specimen is one of two known for this date and series, and it shows excellent details of the original dime impression. In this case, the obverse cent design is on the reverse of the dime, and vice versa. This was entirely a random matter, and it just as easily could have been coined in the other orientation. "</em><em>As has been previously noted, off-metal error coins are very popular. The 1943 error coinage carries special collector interest due to the publicity surrounding the 1943 bronze cent. There are not many 1943 cents struck on dimes. In high grades they always command a premium." </em>To this excellent write up we would add very little other than to report that the other known example of a 1943 cent overstruck on a 1943 dime appeared in our (Bowers and Ruddys) Terrell Collection sale of May 1973, lot 1092. For that coin, the obverse and reverse of both types were aligned. On the present example, portions of all four digits in the date for the Mercury dime are discernible within the lower portion of the right wheat ear. Special thanks to Saul Teichman for providing us with census and provenance information relating to this significant Mint error.<p>From the John Whitney Walter Collection. Earlier ex Bill Fivaz, imaged on the cover of the Midwest Error Coin Collectors Association (MECCA) journal, April 1973; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of the Bill Fivaz Collection, July-August 2003, lot 3217; Heritages Denver, CO Signature & Platinum Night Auction of August 2006, lot 4013. Pictured on page 50 of the 2010 reference <em>100 Greatest U.S. Error Coins</em> by Nicholas P. Brown, David J. Camire and Fred Weinberg, where it is ranked as No. 39.
