Don't Give Up. The Errors Are Still Out There
By Jason Kim

I was at my local coin shop going through a junk bin of silver dimes. I had a list of dates I needed for my album and began to search. The mint marks on silver dimes appear on the back so I was flipping each coin checking for mintmarks. As I was flipping a Mercury dime, I noticed a peculiar 'S mint mark. It looked different but I knew immediately what it was.

In 1942, a mint employee took his rod and unknowingly struck an mint mark upside down into a working die. That very same die went on to strike some Mercury Dimes at the San Francisco Mint. The Mercury dimes went into the hands of the public, and circulated separately for a long period of time. One was pulled out of circulation and somewhere along the line, ended up in a junk bin. That very coin was being held in my hand!

If you haven't already guessed, the coin I had found was the 1942-S, 10 cent inverted S mint mark (and for all the cherrypickers guide fans: FS-10-1942S-501). I couldn't believe my luck! I put the coin to the side and continued to look for the dates I needed. I ended up buying 15 dimes including the Inverted . I was given a great deal as well. After doing the math I paid about $1.66 for the inverted S.

It is times like these that really make coin collecting and error collecting fun! I would like to personally thank the coin shop for that awesome find! Don't give up, the errors are still out there! Thank you for reading and Happy Hunting!

For more information on CONECA, see:
https://conecaonline.org/