Cheapest priced copy (Breaking News): $16.99 at Card Kingdom, near mint, their price list as of .
Contagion Engine 
Artifact · Rare · Scars of Mirrodin · #145
When this artifact enters, put a -1/-1 counter on each creature target player controls.
{4}, {T}: Proliferate twice. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there. Then do it again.)
Legal inCommanderModernLegacyVintage
Not legal inBrawlStandardPioneerPauper
5 printings · $16.99 to $54.99 at Card Kingdom
| Set | Number | Rarity | Card Kingdom | Foil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breaking News | 61 | Mythic | $16.99 | $17.99 |
| Breaking News | 78 | Mythic | — | $54.99 |
| The List | SOM-145 | Rare | $17.99 | — |
| Secret Lair Drop | 1095 | Rare | $16.99 | $18.99 |
| Scars of Mirrodin | 145 | Rare | $20.99 | $44.99 |
8 rulings from Wizards of the Coast
- 1 January 2011As Contagion Engine's activated ability resolves, you'll complete an entire proliferate action, then you'll complete a second proliferate action. You may choose different players and/or permanents, or different counters on those permanents, when you proliferate the second time.
- 1 January 2011Players can't respond between the first and the second proliferate actions.
- 4 February 2023To proliferate, you can choose any permanent that has a counter, including ones controlled by opponents. You can choose any player who has a counter, including opponents. You can't choose cards in any zone other than the battlefield, even if they have counters on them.
- 4 February 2023An ability that triggers "Whenever you proliferate" triggers even if you chose no permanents or players while doing so.
- 4 February 2023Players can respond to a spell or ability whose effect includes proliferating. Once that spell or ability starts to resolve, however, and its controller chooses which permanents and players will get new counters, it's too late for anyone to respond.
- 4 February 2023If a player or permanent has more than one kind of counter on it, and you choose for it to get additional counters, it must get one of each kind of counter it already has. You can't have it get just one kind of counter it already has and not the others.
- 4 February 2023You don't have to choose every permanent or player that has a counter, only the ones you want to add another counter to. Since "any number" includes zero, you don't have to choose any permanents at all, and you don't have to choose any players at all.
- 4 February 2023If a permanent ever has both +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it at the same time, they're removed in pairs as a state-based action so that the permanent has only one of those kinds of counters on it.