2019-09-21 Sat

In a recent public sale by Heritage Auctions at the Long Beach Expo in California, a portion of the cutting edge uncommon coins have been placed in the point of vital view. While a few authorities and sellers shun the current clad mint pieces, frequently venturing to such an extreme as to name such coinage as insignificant "garbage", post-1950s coinage is clearly gaining a spot in the hearts and brains of more gatherers.

One such coin to increase to an extraordinary significance is the 1969-S Doubled Die Cent.

Lincoln pennies are one of the most mainstream and generally gathered of United States coins, spreading over the ages. One need not be an alleged "modern collector" to have an eye for the Lincoln pennies, which have been minted since the start of the twentieth century and incorporate such great rarities as the 1909-S VDB, 1914-D, 1922 plain, 1931-S, 1943 bronze, and 1955 multiplied kick the bucket pennies. The 1960s likewise conveyed in any event one essentially important section in the Lincoln cent series: the 1969-S doubled die.

The 1969-S double die Lincoln cent is one of the rarest Lincoln penny assortments, and surely it's the most valuable of the Lincoln Memorial penny period spreading over 1959 through 2008. Since its revelation decades back, just a couple of dozen models have turned up–however, numismatists accept less than 100 were made Each 1969-S DDO is worth thousands of dollars in any grade, including circulated condition.

The 1969-S doubled-die is one of the more newsworthy modern coins, making mainstream headlines in 1995 when an unemployed woman found an example in circulation that later sold for $3,500. In 2007, coin collector Michael Tremonti was poring through an unsearched roll when he discovered an example that shortly thereafter was graded PCGS MS64RD and realized $126,500.

These days, most 1969-S doubled die cents reliably command between $25,000 and $100,000 depending on condition.

Many individuals unfamiliar with the diagnostics of a 1969-S doubled die cent assume (or at least hope) that they possess an example if they see any signs of doubling on the coin – a common mistake when differentiating a coin with common and essentially worthless “machine doubling” versus one with the rarer and much more valuable “doubled die” error. Doubled die 1969-S cents exhibit strong doubling on the obverse in the date and in the inscriptions LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST. Doubling is not present, however, in the “S” mintmark, as the mintmark was punched into the working die separately, after the hubbing, during which the doubling occurred.

Image Courtesy: Coin Week