70th Anniversary of Lincoln Cent Double Die Obverse 1955
HalfDime
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This year is the 70th Anniversary of the iconic Lincoln Cent Double Die Obverse released in 1955.
The 1955 double die Lincoln cent was created due to a manufacturing error at the Philadelphia Mint. During the die-making process, a working die for Lincoln cents received two impressions from a master hub, with the second impression slightly misaligned. This misalignment resulted in a doubling effect on the date, inscriptions, and lettering on the obverse side of the coin. Specifically:
The die-making process typically requires multiple impressions from a working hub to create a high-quality die.
In this case, the coin hub and die were not correctly aligned (slightly rotated) for the final impression.
This misalignment caused the lettering, date, and inscriptions to appear doubled on the die.
The error went unnoticed, and the faulty die was put into service during a midnight to 8 AM shift. It is estimated that approximately 40,000 of these error coins were struck before the mistake was discovered. About 20,000-24,000 of these coins were already mixed with properly produced cents and subsequently released into circulation.
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The mint could make a one ounce gold Lincoln Cent coin dated 2025 as a 70th anniversary of this major error coin, that has the front doubled like the original. Will they do it? People can only dream unfortunately.
Comments
Cool info. and a cool coin.
Nice coin!
I vaguely remember this but weren’t a lot of them put into cigarette packages in vending maching as a way of getting the change back?
Jaime Hernandez PCGS: The 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln cent is unquestionably the most famous doubled die coin in the entire Lincoln cent series and possibly, even the most famous doubled die coin in numismatics.
The 1955 Doubled Dies were created when the Mint struck a working hub and a working die together while they were both slightly rotated differently from one another. Consequently, this working die then received a doubled die impression and in return, it struck thousands of 1955 Doubled Die cents.
After the 1955 Doubled Dies were produced they were then mixed with millions of regular circulation strike cents from that same year. However, Mint employees caught some of the 1955 Doubled Die cents before they went into circulation. The Mint then decided that it was just not worth the trouble of melting millions of cents to retrieve the approximately 20,000 Doubled Die cents that were accidentally produced.
In the following months 1955 Doubled Die cents were finally turning up in circulation, including in cigarette packs which were being sold in vending machines. At that time, a pack of cigarettes would cost 23 cents each but the vending machines would only take a quarter and no other change. Therefore, the cigarette companies would need to place two cents inside each pack of cigarettes to be given back as change. 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.
Since 1955 Doubled Dies were being found the same year in which they were released, many coins were pulled aside and preserved. Because of this, most coins exist in AU grades and higher. The original estimate of existing 1955 Doubled Die cents was anywhere from 20,000 to 24,000 coins. Nonetheless, many coins possibly got lost in circulation and the amount of surviving examples may be more like 10,000 to 15,000 examples in existence in all grades combined.
In conclusion, due to the high prices that the 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln cents command, there are many deceiving counterfeit coins out there in the market. One of the main diagnostics of a genuine 1955 Doubled Die cent can be seen on the reverse of the coin. Since there was only one pair of dies used to create the 1955 Doubled Dies, all genuine examples should display vertical die polishing lines to the left of the letter T in ONE CENT. Authentication is strongly recommended for this variety.
Ron Guth:
In November 2010, John Wexler reported a 1955 Doubled Die Cent discovered by Richard Snow with curious abrasions on the obverse and reverse, indicating that operators at the mint may have removed the dies from the press to grind off clash marks. Two incredible scenarios arise: either the press operator missed the doubling of the dies during the abrasion process OR the press operator noticed the doubling and replaced them into the press anyway! The authenticity of the abraded die 1955 Doubled Die Cents has been confirmed by the presence of diagnostic vertical die scratches coming down from the left bar of the T in CENT.
Sources and/or recommended reading: "1955 Doubled Die Obverse Cent Story Gets Even Stranger" by John Wexler, COIN WORLD, November 22, 2010, pp. 5, 58 and 60
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Since I can take pics again, I dug mine out.
Everybody’s favorite Double Die - no magnifier or microscope required!
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
I'll go out on a limb here and say one of our #1 coins since we were kids!
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Wait a few more years.
can i get a new one with a privy?
and make the privy doubled!
Will the Mint be issuing a 70th Anniversary commemorative with lottery privy?
"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
Still the best, at least for me.
One thing I think that article got wrong regarding the cigarette pack story:
"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."
A minor point, but I believe the vending machine company simply taped the two cents onto the pack. I don't know how or why they'd factory wrap the cigarettes in cellophane just to include change. In fact, I used to own a 1955 DDO that had a toning streak across it the width of scotch tape.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I have always liked those but have never owned one.
Took me decades to buy one, here it is. PCGS OGH AU55 CAC
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Thanks for reminding me of my birth year.
but are you still MS?
I'm more like VF details!
Never thought about it being 70 years. I coincidentally grabbed this on Sunday. There were quite a few at HA this past week too.
Always wanted one and this almost completes my Lincoln collection in MS64 RD and RB.
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
This one came with ANACS "genuine" papers. That didn't mean that it was damaged; it only met that the submitter didn't want ANACS to grade it. NGC called it MS-62, Brown.
I have always loved this coin, too. Perhaps some day I will own one.
Someone wrote one time – perhaps it was Q. David Bowers – that based on his research, these doubled dies were probably minted in late summer of 1955, perhaps in August and/or September.
I was born in August 1955... in my fantasy dream, I was born on the day that at least some of these coins were struck!
This has to be one of the great US error coins. I used to own one, sold along with most of my Lincolns in the past couple years. Pics are below & were taken under different lighting. Good comments from other posters here, but I can add a couple notes of interest. One is the areas the coins were released in the cigarette vending machine packs. Most seem to have been in the Binghamton NY area & Boston MA. RD ones like my old one are pretty rare. Theory is the proximity to the tobacco (even though they were cellophane wrapped), caused tarnish on the surfaces.
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Nickelodeon
This is my wife’s 1955 DDO cent I bought for her in 1995 on her 40th birthday. It is in a PCGS OGH MS-65 RD holder later stickered by CAC.
The story of the 1955DDO cent is incomplete. See below.
The night shift of the Philly Mint decided to release the doubled die cents instead of destroying them as a hurricane was forecasted and the employees did not want to fall behind their production quota.
I'm closer to a slider than MS! I would be a valuable addition to a lowball set though.
Sold this one for a dealer friend - nice looking coin in person!