PCGS MS68 1995 Double Die Lincoln Question

moosesr

Wow, has someone just made a bunch of these? The PCGS Pop report lists 22 in MS68 red and there are two auctions on eBay with a total of 25 available.

Charlie

Tootawl

Do you have a link to the auction?

cherrypickincoin

You can get those for pretty cheap now, around $115 in some Coin World ads. Mine is MS67 RD, I feel no need to upgrade. These coins aren't going anywhere for awhile.

moosesr

Here are the auction links:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3036804278&category=524

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3037336422&category=524

Link 1


Link 2

coppercoins

I would imagine there are still plenty of these out there that haven't been slabbed - shouldn't come as much suprise. The difference in their value should center on how early of a strike the coins are....what "stage" the die was in when the coins were struck. I see all sorts of people being burned buying these for over $100 in LDS, and they are common - probably over 100,000 of them at the very least. Shoot for an EDS "stage A" in a high grade and you have a valuable coin. Since 95% of the people selling them don't know a hole in the ground from die state, I'd wish you good luck trying to get the die state out of a seller on eBay before bidding on one of the coins - my suggestion is to learn the different die states and either buy the cheap ones on eBay or buy them from a shop or a show. The late die state specimens are worth a maximum of around $20. The EDS, on the other hand, are easily $150 coins.

moosesr

PCGS holders don't say anything about early or late die states? It still seems strange that the pops only show 22 coins in MS68 red and there are 25 on eBay right now in these two auctions.

redcents

My pop report says 999 in 68 RD. The 22 is for 1995 P - NOT 1995 DD.

moosesr

You are right, I goofed in reading the pop report!! Darn these bifocals!!

Charlie

coppercoins

You're not going to see anything on any slab about a coin being early die state, mid die state, or late die state - that's a step in evolution we haven't reached as far as slabs are concerned, but if any one of the companies really wants to get serious about slabbing die varieties with attributions, they are going to have to find a place to include that information. Die variety specialists look at not only the grade of the coin but the condition of the die when it struck the coin - the main reason for this is because the details (the reason why a 1995 doubled die is worth so much more than a 1995 cent) are MUCH clearer and crisper on an EDS specimen than on an LDS specimen.

Secondarily, but just as important, according to a report published years ago by Del Romines the numbers of coins minted by each of the different die states (given a die lives its full life and isn't pulled out of service for damage or otherwise), is staggeringly different...

VEDS and EDS comprise of about the first 10,000 coins struck by a die, which is 1% of all coins struck by the die.

MDS comprises of around 50,000 strikes, or 4% of all strikes by that die.

LDS and VLDS comprise of the other (approximately) 1,100,000 strikes, which sums up the other 95%.

Take this in a matter of rarity for that date, mint, and die, and you have something...this is recognized by a number of die variety collectors, but the general coin collecting world doesn't know or doesn't care about this information. A doubled die is a doubled die, pretty much.

There are only a handful of examples of die varieties where the cataloged and printed value for that die variety is widely separated according to die state. One such example is the 1956D OMM#2 with an S attached to the east side of the D mintmark. Since die wear makes this die variety more obvious, and since the apparent population is more or less backwards from what one might expect (EDS and MDS specimens are much more common than LDS for some odd reason), the value for EDS-MDS specimens is between $8 and $20 for MS65 coins, while it has been reported that the LDS specimens in MS65 go for more than $200-300 per coin. Other dies exist where there are already price differences in the different die states, but this difference has not hit the majority of die varieties - yet. The slabbing companies, as well as 99% of the general market and probably 25% of the die variety market haven't yet awakened...but as evolution has it, a lot of times hind sight is the key to education. I have the heads up and am spreading the word. Collect EDS when you can, and don't bother with LDS if possible....in most cases, that is....and the 1995 DDO (1995P-1DO-001) is no exception.