1917 Mercury Dime Leaved Clashed Die Variety

Great clash! It's a beauty!

Not only that, you should check for FSB. It looks like it may qualify for it from that picture but I'd need to look under a magnifier for sure. Cool coin!

thanks for the comments, do you think its worth sending in to TPG to get slabbed

I got in hand today looks even better wow !!

I just wanted to chime in again on this coin. I was reading Kevin Flynn's book on clashing (the big purple one), and in it he has a spectacular photo of a clashed Kennedy half in proof. Those dies had clashed to such a great degree that clashing was found inside the devices, like Kennedy's cheek. This occurred because the face of the dies bulged out in the center and 'kissed' under the fantastic force of the press.

It reminded me of this Mercury dime, and now that I'm looking at it again, there appears to be clashing inside of Liberty's eye. I suspect that this coin came off of a press whose pressure had been raised to strike proofs - or it had been inaccurately set too high. IMO, this clashing could not have occurred with the standard press pressure. If I'm not mistaken, circulation IHCs took 60 tons of pressure while proofs were struck at something like 200 tons. So, the difference in pressure is quite high.

Okay, I did some more research. In the Authoritative Reference on Lincoln Cents by Wexler and Flynn, they say that no proof coins were struck between 1917 and 1935. If I am not mistaken, the proofs were made again starting in 1936. Proofs in this period were struck using a hydraulic press operating between 300 and 400 tons psi. Business strikes were struck on conventional presses at about 60 tons, 5-6 times less pressure. No proofs were struck in 1917, although a single Lincoln Cent has drawn controversy as being a possible proof.

It seems plausible that in 1917 they started using the hydraulic presses for business strikes since the mint stopped making proof coins. I know nothing about these presses, but it seems possible that they could have been used without reducing the PSI, or not reducing it enough. This theory could be used to help explain why the clashing on your coin is so outrageous, and why that 1917 cent looks so proof-like.

Cheers.

WOW! WOW! How can I missed!

Excellent!! I think the bottom band miss being FSB.

VERY cool!! Congrats on a great pickup!