1942/1-D 10C, FB MS(PCGS#5041)

The August 2013 Chicago ANA World's Fair of Money

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

4073

等级

MS66

价格

234,150

详细说明

Extraordinary Gem Mint State 1942/1-D Mercury Dime One of the Finer Specimens Known 1942/1-D Mercury Dime. FS-101. MS-66 FB (PCGS). CAC. Offered is a splendid example of this coveted rarity. The entire obverse and reverse are bright silver with strong luster throughout. A dusting of russet-gold is seen around the rims, but scarcely crosses over from the reeding and edge of the coin into the tops of the lettering. The surfaces are virtually perfect, utterly free of bagmarks or scuffs -- incredible quality for this rarity in fact. There is an ultra thin die crack down Liberty's head behind her temple to just below her jaw. There is slight doubling of the motto, along the left side of IN and below on WE too, diagnostic to this variety. The digits of the date are also slightly doubled, most prominent on the 4, with the tail of the 1 extending below the base of the 2 at the left edge. These facts confirm the method of manufacture, where a 1941 obverse hub was impressed into a new die, then a second obverse hub -- this one dated 1942 -- was also impressed into this same die. Thus the overdate was born, and this double hub adventure accounts for the slightly doubled motto as well as the doubled 4, neither of which aligned perfectly between the hub strikes when this die was created. This process was also the cause of similar 20th century overdates including the 1918/7-D Buffalo nickel, the 1918/7-S Standing Liberty quarter, the 1943/2 Jefferson nickel, and the 1909/8 Saint-Gaudens double eagle. Also noteworthy is the creation of its sister, the 1942/1 Philadelphia Mercury dime; it is apparent that two obverse dies of 1942 were both created in a similar fashion, one paired with a Philadelphia reverse, the other sent to Denver where the D Mint coins were struck with this overdate. This Denver Mint overdate was discovered by Delma K. Romines in 1962, and widely publicized. However, by this time all or nearly all had been placed into circulation with the result that the average condition of those found by numismatists was apt to be VF or EF. Curiously the Denver Mint coins do come with sharper strikes, so when a Mint State coin is found, it most likely will have the desired Full Bands strike. Perhaps 60 percent of Philadelphia overdate dimes are known with the Full Bands designation in Mint State. Numismatic Reflections by Q. David Bowers A number of years ago we purchased a group of four Gem examples. Numerical grading was not in vogue then for silver coins, and I do not know what they would be listed as today. However, they were beautiful. We advertised them for sale, and within a day or so of our listing all were gone and many other orders were received. We have never seen or heard of a comparable group since, and in retrospect we didn't truly appreciate the rarity of what we had. PCGS# 5041. PCGS Population: 13; 2 finer (Mint State-66+ finest) within the 1942/1-D FS-101 FB designation.