Is this 1955 ddo fake?

boiler78 · February 15, 2005 8:46AM

First let me state for the record, I don't do Lincolns so I don't know squat about them. A friend just dropped by and asked me to send this coin to PCGS for grading and authentication. I think the coin has been cleaned so I suggested ANACS but I would like opinions on authenticity before I go to the trouble of sending it out. What do you Lincoln experts think?

newport · February 15, 2005 8:47AM

looks good to me....

Russ · February 15, 2005 8:52AM

Can you do a closeup of the "L" in Liberty and the "1" of the date?

Russ, NCNE

boiler78 · February 15, 2005 8:58AM

Russ- at the moment this is the only image I have of the coin. What should I be looking for as far as diagnostics for the real deal? Lets think positive.

Mark

mrearlygold · February 15, 2005 9:02AM

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Russ · February 15, 2005 9:03AM

<< <i>What should I be looking for as far as diagnostics for the real deal? >>

There is an excellent die struck counterfeit out there and the only two things I remember about it are a) The L in Liberty crowds the rim and is somewhat malformed, and b) The doubled 1 of the date has clear seperation from top to bottom - kind of a clear channel between the two.

On the real deal, the L will have definite distance from the rim, and the doubled 1 will touch at the top and near the bottom.

Russ, NCNE

Russ · February 15, 2005 9:14AM

Found the link I was looking for!

Click here for Coppercoin's excellent page on the '55 DDO.

Russ, NCNE

Hedger · February 15, 2005 9:26AM

Looks like a struck counterfeit according to Coppercoins photos.

boiler78 · February 15, 2005 9:27AM

Russ- That was most helpful. Now that I am an expert on the 55 ddo I will go ahead and declare this coin genuine and send it off to ANACS for slabbing and net grading.

I appreciate the link and the education.

Mark

carl · February 15, 2005 9:30AM

If you read that article in the coppercoin book like someone suggested it sort of makes it sound like it's really tough to tell the difference especially if the coin has a little wear. Where did the coin come from? Did someone buy it or was it found in change? Was it stored away by someone you know since somewhere in the 50's.
If you want to really find out if such an expensive coin is real, send it in for testing to PCGS. It would be worth it if it's worth a thousand or two. Even as a counterfiet, someone would by it as a novelty.

boiler78 · February 15, 2005 9:33AM

hedger- do you think so? I have the luxury of looking at the actual coin in hand with a 10x loupe while reviewing the diagnostics on Chucks website. The obverse all seems to check out genuine. The reverse is a little harder for me to tell? Maybe the obverse is real and the reverse is fake? Wouldn't that be something!

I guess I just need to have the experts at ANACS make the call.

etexmike · February 15, 2005 12:18PM

Russ,

I have owned 2 MS 55/55's and both were slabbed when I purchased them.
That was a very informative link that you had there and I saved it for future reference.

Thanks a bunch.

-----------

etexmike

coppercoins · February 15, 2005 1:44PM

From the photos provided it appears to be genuine. And as stated before, cleaned as well. It looks like the agent used here was baking soda, probably by boiling, not rubbing.

The overall determinant to me that it is "probably" genuine is the detail on the face. I have never seen a struck counterfeit come out with the "proper" details, and this example has what it takes. The first thing I look at on a 1955 doubled die is the motto - the second thing is the face. If the eyelids have the proper shape and doubling, and the nose has the distinctive separation line, you likely have the real deal.

The die scratches on the reverse, namely the X shape to the left center of the T of CENT, are good markers to use as long as you have a nice, uncirculated specimen that's in the correct die state. Certainly there were examples struck that do not have this die scratch combo. I know, I have seen them. With an estimated 100,000 plus specimens struck by the mint, it is easy to assume (and correctly at that) these die scratches were either placed on the die after it began striking coins, or that it was placed on the die before it began striking coins and wore off before the run was complete.

Where do I get my 100,000 number? That comes from the latest die state known on genuine examples of the die (late mid-die state) and the study of die state by Delma K. Romines. He states that for bronze cents a die can generally have 680,000 to 750,000 strikes in its entire life. He continues by adding that from very early die state through the end of mid-die state, approximately 11 per-cent of this number is reached. Well, 11 per-cent of 680-750 thousand is about 100 thousand.

So...there's my not-so in a nutshell answer.

Is this 1955 ddo fake?

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