The find of my life... UPDATED 12/22/20
OnWithTheHunt
Posts: 1,232 ✭✭✭✭✭
Good news from PCGS and GC;
Posted this coin several months ago and it just appeared as an item pending on Great Collections. Graded a straight G6 at PCGS. Auction date TBD. To recap, paid 15 cents for it in a batch of junk Buffalos. 
Haven't been doing much with coins this year with club meetings and and shows cancelled, and got tired checking the internet daily. Spent a lot of time on photography instead, but I think my latest purchase of junk buffalos is going to reignite the thill of the hunt and get me to put down the camera once in a while. This is the second one I've found, although the last was at least 10 years ago and dateless.
Proud recipient of the coveted "You Suck Award" (9/3/10).
28
Comments
You might want to mention that it's a 1916 DDO. Very nice pick-up. Let us know how it does at the grading service.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Nice dude!
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.I do see a ghost of a date!
That is a major find and rarity for sure.
I can also the ghost of a date. The 1916 DDO doesn't need a date to be identified as such. The doubling in the Indian's feathers identify it as a 1916 DDO.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I agree, yet wouldn't be so keen to own one without at least a smidgen of a date seen. Just lends a bit more credibility to the coin.
Same with Chain Cents. Gotta see at least a bit of a date to be (more) drawn to the coin.
Awesome find! I’ve never had one quite that good. It inspires a lot of us...
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
That's a helluva cherrypick, John! I've never cherried one myself. Congrats!!!!
Wish I could find some "Junk" like that, it has to be exciting just digging through and finding something as cool as that!
HOLY MOLI!!!
Pete
That’s better than the 21 Merc I got from a junk bin as a teen.
Great pick up!
I'm not a Buff-kinda-guy, but that's a killer find! Well done!
Wow ... Nice find!
gratz!!
love coins like that. probably a double-take moment.
The fact that some of the date remains is a big plus. It will probably do well once it is slabbed.
Wowsers....I will have a drink in your honour.
Well done @OnWithTheHunt .
This one is for you!
Nice find
Wow,nice.
Many successful BST transactions with dozens of board members, references on request.
Love to see excitement injected back into the hunt, I can feel it from here. Why settle with a “No F” variety for that date when there are so much bigger fish to fry. While I sometimes feel that some varieties are just going to be unattainable, post like this reignite hope.
Buffalo Nickel Digital Album
Toned Buffalo Date SetDigital Album
Awesome find! Congrats!!!
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
Congratulations on a super find...Pays to go through old stuff.... I have a pile I Buffs that I acquired perhaps 22/23 years ago... I should break them out and go through them one by one under a light....Cheers, RickO
If you are like me, you will need glasses where you didn't 23 years ago!
I agree, yet wouldn't be so keen to own one without at least a smidgen of a date seen
this has always been my thinking with very low grade coins/varieties. certainly there are diagnostics aside from the date that can help identify then, certainly they are worth quite a bit of money. just the same, I can't see the allure of a dateless coin. it's the same with a 1916 SLQ, even without the date we can know what it is and it's valuable, but it's the date......................
nice find nonetheless. when I worked at a Coin shop I looked at thousands of dateless Buffalos till my eyes were sore and never found one.
@bearcave... Actually, I was wearing glasses 23 years ago... Have worn them since I was a kid... That being said, I know what you mean... now I have to get the coin in the right light to see the date/detail.... Cheers, RickO
RickO, you better get to it before it's too late. your situation is sort of the type of thing I've battled my whole life: when younger and more capable there just wasn't enough time, now there's plenty of time but our bodies are starting to get real honest with us.
You give all of us,,
that coin collectors "inspiration ". Thanks and Congratulations
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.Very cool! I wonder how long it was just sitting there waiting for you.
Fantastic!
Think of all the people who didn’t give it a second look, let alone a first one due to the date being nearly gone.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
that sure is a nice pick up I like
Congrats on your find.
Bask in the great feelings of succeeding on your hunt.
However calling this coin the find of your life is not entirely accurate because....................................................
......................... you may find an even better coin tomorrow and thereafter.
Nice pickin'...and grinnin'.
cool. nice payday.
I think that qualifies for a "You Suck!" award . Great find!
Awesome! One of the greatest doubled dies among US coins (after the 1955/55 of course)
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I know the feeling! Self-picking the 1919 Mercury DDO last month was great. Congratulations!
Gonna get me a $50 Octagonal someday. Some. Day.
Nice find! Did you have to go through a lot of coins or was it quick? Just curious...
K
I disagree. The 16/16 is much rarer and the spread is actually wider than the 55. The 55 is more striking because it's a Class I doubled die, with all peripheral elements strongly doubled whereas the 16 is a Class V doubled die where only a portion of the elements are doubled. But where there is doubling on the 16/16 it is stronger than the 55.
@koynekwest
It is a ok to disagree, but I think you would be hard pressed convincing most collectors that the '55 is not the king of the doubled dies.
By "great" I do not mean having a wider spread, I mean "spectacular."
The 1916/16 is awesome, and much rarer. But everyone with even a casual interest in coins knows the '55.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I am still partial to the 1961 DDR Proof Franklin.
It has doubling that is quiet dramatic, is one a large coin, is on a silver coin, is on a proof coin and there are not very many of them (about 200-300) out of a mintage of over 3,000,000 if I recall correctly.
The 1955 DDO cent has over 20,000 known.
How many of the 1916 DDO Buffalo nickel are known?
I agree that most collectors would prefer the 55/55 if value is disregarded. It is a more spectacular doubled die overall with more eye appeal and is generally accepted to be the "king" of doubled dies.
"spectacular" is a good concept, though it can be defined in different ways.
It could be done based on the volume of misplaced metal, for example.
Spread and extent both affect that. So does the size of the coin (or you could normalize the size).
Whether something is "well known" is a rather indirect measure.
Ultimately, both the 1955 1c DDO and 1916 5c DDO are spectacular.
It is hard to pick one over the other.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1001204/rate-the-25-greatest-u-s-doubled-dies
As a kid and young coin collector there were two coins that we dreamt about: the 1909 S VDB (484,000 minted - still seared in my memory), and the 1955 doubled die.
To me the 1955 will always be the king of DDs, regardless of value.
Local brewery for me. Good stuff
Congrats to the OP. Knowledge is power.
Latin American Collection
I alsolikethe 1945 P DDR nickel, primarily because I pikced up a LOC album of MS Jeffersons at a local BM shop that happended to contain a very nice MS example of that coin that amy even be FS.
I also found a circulated example of this coin in the wild.
WOW nice find!
Thanks to all who commented. This find has definitely rejuvenated my interest. Sure others have wondered the same thing. I had been searching bulk lots of Buffalos for years, ranging from a few rolls to a couple of thousand coins looking for varieties and errors. This DDO came from a relatively small lot, 3 rolls of full dates, a couple of part dates and a couple of no dates. The whole lot cost about $75. While the 16 was the king of the bunch, coming out of the partial rolls, it also yielded some other nice finds, a 1926S in fine, a 14-D with parts of all four digits, several better dates in collectible condition and some high-grade late dates. I've searched far bigger lots with much less success. This will be going in for grading after I have a chance to show it around at my next club meeting. Will post updates after its graded.
Huge score. Congrats! Reminder: Check my Buff mini hoard.
100% Positive BST transactions
Incredible! Awesome find
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Awesome find.
Not knowing much about buffalo nickels I did a quick comparison to PCGS Photograde...I'd say it's a solid AG3, possible G4. Opinions on that evaluation?
Agree, an easy AG3, could it squeak to G4? We'll find out eventually.