1955 DDO "poor mans" version

jmcu12 · August 20, 2005 1:40PM

I just picked this up.

A few questions.

1. What is the significance of this "poor mans" version? Only the last 5 is doubled.
2. What is the grade; cents are not my forte.
3. Does this still count as a double die, if I were to have it graded?

4. The main reason I picked it up was for the obverse, at the top of Lincoln's head. It looks like a die break or two. Has anyone seen this before? Again cents are not my forte so I am not sure if this is a common thing to see.

Thanks everyone! You have always been so helpful.

JRocco · August 20, 2005 1:47PM

These are very common coins. Many coins from the 50's show this die deterioration. The head cracks are also extremely common. I have at least 2-300 examples that are exactly like you are explaining. I would not have it slabbed. It is not a doubled die.

michael · August 20, 2005 1:51PM

leave it raw as it is a really cool coin and heavily promoted as the coin every man can own for a few dollars as the poor mans doubled die i can remember this back in the late 1960's -early 1980's millions spent on advertising

come to think of it i have not seen this coin advertisied as this poor mans double die for at least ten years or more! but since i do not get out much who knows??

this specific coin i consider the "1844 orphan annie dime" of the lincoln cents

it is a classic in its own right

you cant afford the 1955 ddo for 6k in ms64 rb you can buy the poor mans 55 last 5 slightly doubled?? for a few dollars in red 64/65!!!

coppercoins · August 20, 2005 4:15PM

Biggest problem is people like yourself being taken by the hype on these - they are common 1955 cents, there is nothing worth any premium value on them. I have thousands of them, because most of the 1955 cents I have ever had show this "doubling" to some degree.

The whole story surrounding this supposed "variety" goes back to 1955 when the story about the doubled die broke - thousands upon thousands were searching through their change looking for one. Many people, when they came across one of these, were sure they hit paydirt and took them in to coin dealers to cash in. It didn't take long for the "scroo yoo" dealers to take advantage of the situation and start offering these overworn die struck coins at a premium. They are NOT worth any premuim value AT ALL. They are NOT doubled dies AT ALL. A slabbing company (other than PCI) would slab them ONLY as a normal 1955 cent, and the other might slab it as a doubled die, but they slab a LOT of crap as doubled dies - I have nothing positive to say about their die variety attributions.

Oddly enough there are a vast number of similar coins from 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1953, and 1954 that have never received any collector attention at all. Yet again, just another case of a lack of general understanding of the minting process that turns into media hype creating a worthless coin with pseudo-value that people sink into.

I hate to sound harsh, but I also hate to see people continue to get screwed by this now 50 year old misunderstanding.

jmcu12 · August 20, 2005 6:05PM

yep, it sounds like I got taken. But at least it was only for $5. I can deal with that. Thanks everyone!

JRocco · August 21, 2005 4:52AM

May I add here jmcu that there are 5 or 6 true doubled dies (once again-avoid this gimmick coin) that were made in 1955, from all 3 mints. Keep looking at those 55's and you may see a true doubled die that is not labeled as such. Go to C.D.'s site at coppercoins.com and look at some of the pics showing the different varieties from 55. It is a great site that is very user friendly and very informative.

1955 DDO "poor mans" version

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1955 DDO &quot;poor mans&quot; version

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1955 DDO "poor mans" version