Has anyone ever seen a pack of cigarettes with a 1955 DDO cent enclosed in the package?

291fifth

Supposedly a number of the 1955 DDO cents were used as change in cigarette packages that were sold in vending machines. Has anyone ever seen one of these packages with the coin still in it? Do any still exist?

ms70

Check this out! I googled it and never expected to find something on it right from PCGS!

Clicky here!

ms70

I looked around some more but couldn't locate any pics. Just think how cigarette sales would skyrocket if Phillip Morris put some sort of commem or interesting coin in a cigarette
pack to do a retro promotion!

If anyone smokes at PCGS or NGC they'd really make out with all the sealed packs getting submitted to get the coin slabbed as a "cigarette pack" coin!

drwstr123

As a child, my mother sent me to get her cigs. Cigs were 23¢.
Put a quarter in the machine and out came the cigs with 2¢ stuck in the bottom of the pack.

BillJones

David Bowers told a story about a cigarette machine he found that was full of packs with two 1955 doubled die cents in them. He said he bought out the machine.

Some people claim that the fumes from the tobacco effected the coins, which is why it is so hard to find the coin with a great deal of original red color.

droopyd

<< <i>Some people claim that the fumes from the tobacco effected the coins, which is why it is so hard to find the coin with a great deal of original red color. >>



I'd blame the tape as well.

DaveWcoins

<< <i>

<< <i>Some people claim that the fumes from the tobacco effected the coins, which is why it is so hard to find the coin with a great deal of original red color. >>



I'd blame the tape as well. >>



Were they taped to the cigarette pack, or were they just dropped loose inside the cellophane and then sealed?

messydesk

<< <i>Just think how cigarette sales would skyrocket if Phillip Morris put some sort of commem or interesting coin in a cigarette pack to do a retro promotion!

If anyone smokes at PCGS or NGC they'd really make out with all the sealed packs getting submitted to get the coin slabbed as a "cigarette pack" coin! >>


Next year is the 60th anniversary of the 55 doubled die. I think the mint should make a special, high relief, gold 1955 doubled die cent (in various finishes), and ship them in deluxe packages resembling cigarette packs of the day. The grading services could then produce special labels with the appropriate logos on them.

Absurd, yes, but how many years ago would it also have been unimaginable?

pennyannie

I am still looking daily for the 1955 DD in my 2 packs of smokes, only thing I find is a price increase. I have read all the stories laying around the net. If they had smart phones in 1955 there would be plenty of proof in tweats, pics,movies and whatever else these phones can do.

No one took a lot of pics back then and the net was to keep the bugs off you when the windows were open. My brother was born in 58 and he has 24 baby pics, I think that was 2 rolls of film back them, my sister in 62 and myself in 63 we have about 12 baby pics. My kid was born in 92 and we have thousands.

I would love to see a picture, I do remember cigarette vending machines growing up but paid no attention to them.

I bought and sold my on 1955 double die cent this year, I always wanted one and I finally bit the bullet and bought it and then the thrill was gone.

gypsylea

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Some people claim that the fumes from the tobacco effected the coins, which is why it is so hard to find the coin with a great deal of original red color. >>



I'd blame the tape as well. >>



Were they taped to the cigarette pack, or were they just dropped loose inside the cellophane and then sealed? >>



I've seen both, but tape less often.

oreville

i bought this 1955 DDO cent then realized I forgot to buy my wife's birthday present so i gave it to her as it was her birth year. that was nearly 20 years ago.

She still has it.


1955 DDO cent photo

renman95

<< <i>

<< <i>Just think how cigarette sales would skyrocket if Phillip Morris put some sort of commem or interesting coin in a cigarette pack to do a retro promotion!

If anyone smokes at PCGS or NGC they'd really make out with all the sealed packs getting submitted to get the coin slabbed as a "cigarette pack" coin! >>


Next year is the 60th anniversary of the 55 doubled die. I think the mint should make a special, high relief, gold 1955 doubled die cent (in various finishes), and ship them in deluxe packages resembling cigarette packs of the day. The grading services could then produce special labels with the appropriate logos on them.

Absurd, yes, but how many years ago would it also have been unimaginable? >>



Oh that's crazy talk. Smoething like that could neeevver happen in our lifetimes.

DaveWcoins

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Some people claim that the fumes from the tobacco effected the coins, which is why it is so hard to find the coin with a great deal of original red color. >>



I'd blame the tape as well. >>



Were they taped to the cigarette pack, or were they just dropped loose inside the cellophane and then sealed? >>



I've seen both, but tape less often. >>



Wow -- you have seen them in cig packs? More than one, it sounds like? How long ago?

FullStrike

You looking to buy?

I'll bet my fav dealer in Beijing could help you out on that one. He probably could do 100 case lots for you.

coindeuce

I own two pair of Unc.red 1955-S Lincolns in the original cellophane sleeves that the tobacco company put them into when adding them to the cigarette package.

mr1931S

With an estimated mintage of about 25,000 pieces and a conservative "survivor rate" of ~75%,that leaves 18 to 19 thousand extant.1955 DDO is many times (over 25 times) scarcer than the lowest mintage regular issue Lincoln Cent which is,of course,1909-S V.D.B.

With both coins what you are really paying for is the suspense,the intrigue surrounding these two issues since neither coin is rare and some even have a problem calling either of these two issues scarce.The fact is,if you got the money,you can buy as many of either SVDB or 55DDO as you might want.Most would run out of money before the coin supplier(s) would run out of coins to sell you.

These days,it looks to me like $10,000 would get the well-heeled collector one 1955 DDO in MS64RD AND an SVDB in 65RD.

FullStrike

<< <i>With an estimated mintage of about 25,000 pieces and a conservative "survivor rate" of ~75%,that leaves 18 to 19 thousand extant.1955 DDO is many times (over 25 times) scarcer than the lowest mintage regular issue Lincoln Cent which is,of course,1909-S V.D.B.

With both coins what you are really paying for is the suspense,the intrigue surrounding these two issues since neither coin is rare and some even have a problem calling either of these two issues scarce.The fact is,if you got the money,you can buy as many of either SVDB or 55DDO as you might want.Most would run out of money before the coin supplier(s) would run out of coins to sell you.

These days,it looks to me like $10,000 would get the well-heeled collector one 1955 DDO in MS64RD AND an SVDB in 65RD. >>





Now this is the payoff for Coin Morons like myself , for hanging around here. Ive been dreaming lately about both of these Coins, both the 55 DDO
and the 09 -S VDB. Now that I'm aware of their status as legends rather than rarities, I won't waste my time or money on them..

Some sort of 1855 Coin recovered off the SSCA might be the thing to splurge on . My birth year was 1955. I got a thing for
1855 Coinage.

291fifth

<< <i>With an estimated mintage of about 25,000 pieces and a conservative "survivor rate" of ~75%,that leaves 18 to 19 thousand extant.1955 DDO is many times (over 25 times) scarcer than the lowest mintage regular issue Lincoln Cent which is,of course,1909-S V.D.B.

With both coins what you are really paying for is the suspense,the intrigue surrounding these two issues since neither coin is rare and some even have a problem calling either of these two issues scarce.The fact is,if you got the money,you can buy as many of either SVDB or 55DDO as you might want.Most would run out of money before the coin supplier(s) would run out of coins to sell you.

These days,it looks to me like $10,000 would get the well-heeled collector one 1955 DDO in MS64RD AND an SVDB in 65RD. >>



The estimate of a 75% survivor rate for the 1955 DDO is probably way too low. I would guess the survival rate is closer to 95%. By the time I started collecting in 1961, only six years after the date of issue, the 1955 DDOs were already long gone from circulation. I know because I looked through many, many bags of cents during the period up to mid-1963 and never found one. (After mid-1963 I stopped looking because essentially everything of any value had been pulled out of circulation by the huge number of collectors active during that period.)

gypsylea

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Some people claim that the fumes from the tobacco effected the coins, which is why it is so hard to find the coin with a great deal of original red color. >>



I'd blame the tape as well. >>



Were they taped to the cigarette pack, or were they just dropped loose inside the cellophane and then sealed? >>



I've seen both, but tape less often. >>



Wow -- you have seen them in cig packs? More than one, it sounds like? How long ago? >>



As late as the early 60's. A friend of one of my aunts' family had a fairly large vending machine route. The pennies were usually inside the cellophane when they got them from their wholesaler. Every now and then, a particular brand might have sold more in vending machines than the wholesaler had allocated, so they would take packs they had planned to sell through other channels and tape pennies to the bottom.

toyz4geo

Neat. I wonder how many coin collectors started out with that 55 DDO. First coin and went from there.

Treashunt

I have never seen an original pack

thebeav

My father brought home a similar looking machine from somewhere when I was a teen. I put it in one of my garage sales and one of the neighbor teens bought it. He compiled a list of everyone's brands and stocked the machine. There was pretty much a constant stream of traffic over to his bedroom until his folks made him stop. He was making a dime or so per pack. A silver dime at the time.......

ricko

Yep, I remember them being inside the cellophane - my Dad was a smoker. Cheers, RickO

1040taxman

Messydesk:
Sounds like a plan

adrianslackman

While it's theoretically possible for such an item to exist, it's highly improbable. Enclosing a rare coin like the 1955 Doubled Die Obverse (DDO) cent in a pack of cigarettes would be an unusual and unlikely occurrence. Additionally, placing a valuable collectible item inside a product package would not align with typical marketing or distribution practices. It's more likely that any reports or rumors of such occurrences are either mistaken or fabricated.

MFeld

@adrianslackman said:

While it's theoretically possible for such an item to exist, it's highly improbable. Enclosing a rare coin like the 1955 Doubled Die Obverse (DDO) cent in a pack of cigarettes would be an unusual and unlikely occurrence. Additionally, placing a valuable collectible item inside a product package would not align with typical marketing or distribution practices. It's more likely that any reports or rumors of such occurrences are either mistaken or fabricated.

Welcome to the forum.

If you’re talking about the possibility of that being done decades ago, it was done. At the time the coins were enclosed in the packaging, they hadn’t yet been discovered as errors/coins of extra value.

OAKSTAR

@adrianslackman said:

While it's theoretically possible for such an item to exist, it's highly improbable. Enclosing a rare coin like the 1955 Doubled Die Obverse (DDO) cent in a pack of cigarettes would be an unusual and unlikely occurrence. Additionally, placing a valuable collectible item inside a product package would not align with typical marketing or distribution practices. It's more likely that any reports or rumors of such occurrences are either mistaken or fabricated.

Welcome to the forum.

It wasn't unusual at all and it did occur. The coin wasn't recognized as an error or valuable in 1955.

A pack of cigarettes probably cost 23¢ in 1955. Anyone who inserted a quarter in the vending machine would then receive a pack of cigarettes with two Lincoln cents inside a cellophane packaging. This cellophane packaging was then wrapped around the cigarette packs with the two Lincoln cents inside it, and this is where many of the 1955 Doubled Dies surfaced.

oih82w8

Here's some other threads, same subject.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/377830/1955-doubled-die-cent-truth-or-fiction-right-forum-this-time

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/431385/were-1955-ddo-lincoln-cents-unknowingly-given-away-in-packs-of-cigs-as-a-promotion

https://www.pcgs.com/News/Smoking-Pays-Off-For-Collectors

I thought I seen an image of a cigarette pack with the two cents enclosed. Here is that thread.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1012276/cigarettes-from-the-1950s-with-two-pennies/p1

jesbroken

Never got a doubled die, but did get many two shiny cents with packs of cigarettes. Lived on the Tn/Va state line and would walk across the line into Va. where tobacco was 23 cents a pack until 1961 and they raised to 26 cents a pack except in machines they were only a quarter. Also got a pack of matches with every pack of cigarettes, but everyone had zippos and the bottom of the machine was full of unused match packs. lol
Jim

cladking

@jesbroken said:
... and the bottom of the machine was full of unused match packs. lol

Those might be worth a small fortune now days. Matches are just one of the many US made products that don't work any longer. You might be able to start gasoline on fire when they are brand new but after a week or two they are no longer a danger even to children. At least they have the striker on the back though.

Maybe the part that's supposed to ignite evaporates.

cladking

If you have a Zippo handy the kitchen matches will burn though.

jesbroken

I used to store kitchen matches in a water proof tin for camping/hiking and they are no longer very strikeable. Used to be able to strike them on my jean leg or anywhere actually.
Jim

golden

No .

JWP

I was always told that smoking was bad for your health. They mentioned finding prizes similar to Cracker jacks.

CascadeChris

@MFeld said:

@adrianslackman said:

While it's theoretically possible for such an item to exist, it's highly improbable. Enclosing a rare coin like the 1955 Doubled Die Obverse (DDO) cent in a pack of cigarettes would be an unusual and unlikely occurrence. Additionally, placing a valuable collectible item inside a product package would not align with typical marketing or distribution practices. It's more likely that any reports or rumors of such occurrences are either mistaken or fabricated.

Welcome to the forum.

If you’re talking about the possibility of that being done decades ago, it was done. At the time the coins were enclosed in the packaging, they hadn’t yet been discovered as errors/coins of extra value.

Didn't HA sell one in the sealed pack a few years back, perhaps around the time of this thread if memory serves? 🤔