1919 Mercury Dime. FS-101. Doubled Die Obverse. AG-3 (PCGS). Pleasantly toned in a blend of silver-gray, antique gold and rose-russet, this is an appealing Mercury dime at the lowest reaches of the numismatic grading scale. The obverse rim is generally distinct from the peripheral design elements, the reverse rim less so, with both sides retaining good outline detail to most central features. Smooth in hand and sure to catch the eye of advanced Mercury dime variety enthusiasts. The end of World War One saw a general increase in the production of minor coinage, including the dime. A more than respectable 35,740,000 dimes were struck at Philadelphia using 521 obverse dies and 343 reverse dies. Up until recently, little attention was paid to the 1919 Mercury dime until a remarkable discovery of a dramatic Doubled Die Obverse variety within the past several years changed all that. Although originally found in the 1980s by New York state collector Scott Kerr, he placed his specimen aside in his "Neat Box" as an anomaly with the notation "1919 IN GOD WE TRUST doubling???" on the coins holder, and it went unpublished for decades. When Kerr sold his Neat Box to fellow collector Jeffrey Sam in January 2015, Sam went through the coins and once again uncovered the 1919 dime. He then began posting images of the coin online, which attracted the immediate attention of variety and error specialists. Tom DeLorey referred the Kerr-Sam specimen to Bill Fivaz who confirmed it not only as a Doubled Die, but the earliest in the entire Mercury dime series. The variety has since been assigned the attribution number FS-101. The new discovery was published on February 24, 2015 in emCoin World/em and collectors everywhere soon checked their holdings.It remains a mystery as to how such an eye-catching Doubled Die could remain hidden for so long. The doubling is prominent only on the motto IN GOD WE TRUST, but is readily visible even in the lowest grades, as here, and especially at the letters N in IN, GOD, and RUST in TRUST. The doubling occurred when a complete design was hubbed over an incomplete design during preparation of a working obverse die, in much the same manner as the famed 1916 FS-101 Doubled Die Obverse Buffalo nickel. Since then, less than 20 certification events have been recorded at PCGS, all in circulated grades -- remarkably not a single Mint State or even AU example has so far turned up. Here is a rare chance to acquire one of the most important Mercury dime discoveries in recent years.
