1958 Doubled Die Cent Smashes Records
A legendary example of the ultra-rare 1958 doubled die Lincoln cent smashed all records for the sale of any doubled die sold at auction by exceeding the virtually unfathomable $1…
A legendary example of the ultra-rare 1958 doubled die Lincoln cent smashed all records for the sale of any doubled die sold at auction by exceeding the virtually unfathomable $1 million mark! The 1958 doubled die cent boasts very strong doubling with only three specimens known. It is comparable to the 1955 and 1972 doubled die cents. GreatCollections of Irvine, Calif., handled the sale where it received 117 bids and was hammered down at $1,136,250 with buyer’s fee on Jan. 22 at 3:33 p.m. PST. GreatCollections described it as:
“The King of Doubled Dies. The finest of only three examples known, and in its first auction appearance. Missing from all major collections of Lincoln Cents. Severe doubling, similar to 1955. This variety was first reported in the early 1980s and has severe doubling of IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY.”
They also noted that it was from the Red Copper Collection of Lincoln Cents. Lesser doubling can be seen on Lincoln’s ear, the hair details, his eyelid, his bow tie and the folds in the vest.
The 1958 doubled die was featured in the appendix of The Lincoln Cent Doubled Die by John A. Wexler in 1984 as a last-minute addition. Everybody who saw it in Wexler’s book wanted one! The very next year I would have the honor to hold one in my hand and meet the owner, Charles Ludovico of Pennsylvania. My first one in hand was at Combined Organizations of Error Collectors of America’s (CONECA) Errorama held in conjunction with the Garden State Numismatic Association in 1985, and then I had the honor to hold a second specimen in hand was at Errorama 1986, held at the same location.
At the 1985 Errorama, Ludovico’s 1958 doubled die was housed in a custom Capital holder in the shape of the continental United States inscribed in gold: “Major Doubled Dies” (or something very similar). Encased within was the 1955, 1958 and 1972 doubled dies – all in nice Mint State condition. My jaw dropped when I saw the 1958! It was an identical match to Wexler’s photos, and I had never seen one and didn’t think I ever would. At that point, I had no idea that this fellow had a second specimen.
The next year at Errorama, when he got to our table, he handed me a 1958 doubled die that was housed in a square Capital holder inscribed, “1958 Doubled Die.” I looked at it and said, “Yeah, you showed me this last year but it was in a different holder with the ’55 and ’72,” to which he replied, “no, this is a second one.” I was floored!
Ludovico loved error coins and we communicated by phone for many years. He became one of my biggest customers for high-end errors. He never spoke of a third specimen of this doubled die but it’d be interesting to know if he was the source. But probably not since numismatic error-variety researcher, the late Del Romines, once told me that one was sent to him for examination and listing into the CONECA Doubled Die Files and that it wasn’t from Ludovico. CONECA credits W. Marira so maybe that’s the one Romines examined.
Stack’s Bowers Galleries offered one for sale at the March 2018 Baltimore - Session 3 - Rarities Night Including the ESM Collection as Lot#2146 PCGS graded MS-64 RD. It sold for $336, 000.
Only one is graded PCGS MS-65 Red (the other two being MS-64 RD) so this specimen must be the MS-65 that was once in the Stewart Blay Collection.
The variety is listed by CONECA as 1958 1c DDO-001, 1-O-I-CW and in Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton as FS-101 and in Walter Breen’s Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins as Breen-2222. It is a Class I Rotated Hub Doubled Die that is the same class as the major 1955 and 1972 doubled dies.
Ludovico was quite a few years older than I am and he is surely gone by now, but I wonder what he’d think to see one of his pennies fetch more than a million dollars!
(Color photos courtesy Professional Coin Grading Service. Black-and-white photos courtesy John Wexler.)
Ken Potter has been specializing in error-variety coinage since 1979. He is a longtime freelance writer and Numismatic Literary Guild award-winner for Numismatic News. He is also a past columnist for NN’s sister publication, World Coin News. He is co-author of Strike It Rich With Pocket Change with Dr. Brian Allen and is a charter/honorary life member of Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America. He may be contacted via email at kpotter256@aol.com.
