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Small Cents/Two Cent Pieces
FANTASTIC RED GEM 1955
DOUBLED DIE PENNY
Enlargement
159 1955. Doubled die obverse. NGC graded MS-65 Red .
A beautiful red coin. A highly sought-after variety and truly
tough to see in gem grades. Housed in an Old Style Holder.
Full original mint coppery red brilliance, fiery, including a
few glints here and there of golden whispers, as coin that is
just about as pristine as we have seen on any specimen in
recent times. We all understand how rare coins like this are,
having been pivotal in the market for years and year, going
on sixty years now. Probably not more than a few other
equivalent pieces are available today. Many that are "bril-
liant" no longer have their original sheen and vibrancy
intact. This one is completely original.
A shortage of circulating Cents during the summer of 1955
set the stage for the creation of this curious error, perhaps
the most celebrated error in all of U.S. numismatics. The
increased need for Cents this year obliged the Philadelphia
Mint to speed its production plan and, in the same way, to
cut its quality inspection. It came about, then, that an
obverse die that had unintentionally rotated between blows
from the working hub slipped past the inspectors and
ended up in the press. Paired with a correctly made reverse
die, this obverse struck between 20,000 and 24,000 Dou-
bled Die Cents between midnight and 8 o'clock in the morn-
ing one day during the summer of 1955. The error was not
revealed until after these coins had been included with
other properly produced 1955 Cents. Since he did not want
to destroy 10 million Cents in order to stop the Doubled Die
examples from leaving the Mint, Chief Coiner Sydney C.
Engel allowed them to pass. The first examples were found
by the public in Massachusetts late in 1955, and the error
became popular within a few years. While readily available
in the EF-AU grades, the 1955/55 Doubled Die is truly rare
at the finer levels of Mint State with full mint red preserva-
tion, as the Census indicates: Pop 3; 1 finer in 66.
Estimated Value .............................................$25,000-UP
POPULAR 1955 DOUBLED DIE CENT
Enlargement
160 1955. Doubled die obverse. PCGS graded MS-64
Red. Well struck and a popular key date. Between 20,000
and 24,000 supposedly minted. A blazing copper-red speci-
men with increasingly deep carmine and rose highlights in
the field. A frosted near-gem of the order collectors prefer
to see wherein the fields glow, there are few distracting
handling marks, and no spotting. And among the more
attractive MS64s certified by PCGS. In addition, the coin
possesses a nice, clear-cut strike for all areas with out-
standing detail at the famous obverse doubling. Pop 143;
19 finer, 1 in 64+, 18 in 65. (PCGS # 2827 )
Anecdote: It seems a Boston area vending machine com-
pany got their hands on a fairly substantial number of the
original Doubled Die mintage commingled with regular
1955 cents in bags (unbeknownst to them, of course) and
sent them on their way via a circuitous route. At the time,
this company's vending machines sold cigarettes at 23
cents a pack. In order to provide a refund to the buyer who
had inserted a quarter dollar into the slot, two copper cents
were inserted ahead of time beneath the cellophane wrap-
per of each pack! Wouldn't you know it, the 1955 Doubled
Dies began showing up as change, 2 cents at a time!
Retired coin dealer Jim Ruddy recalls cornering a supply of
Doubled Dies shortly thereafter, before he grew concerned
that the error wasn't all that rare. Fretful that he was tying
up too much working capital in one modern issue, he quit
buying them at 50 cents apiece after his stock topped five
hundred coins!
Estimated Value ........................................ $8,500 - 9,000
1955 LINCOLN CENT. DOUBLED DIE OBVERSE
161 1955. Doubled Die Obverse. NGC graded MS-65 BN .
Well struck with nice even brown toning. Some traces of
mint red. Pop 15; none finer at NGC .
Estimated Value ........................................ $4,500 - 5,000