Lincoln Cent Die Varieties Set Records
We’ve already seen that the ultra-rare 1958 doubled die Lincoln cent from the famed “The Red Copper Collection of Lincoln Cents” sold for an astronomical price of more than $1…
We’ve already seen that the ultra-rare 1958 doubled die Lincoln cent from the famed “The Red Copper Collection of Lincoln Cents” sold for an astronomical price of more than $1 million in a Jan. 23 auction conducted by GreatCollections of Irving, Calif. It was the first doubled die to even come close to breaking the million-dollar mark, and I felt it deserved a story of its own if for not that reason alone.
But there were far more important varieties (and normal coins) in this famous collection of many finest knowns. I’d be remis if I didn’t mention a few of the varieties since they fall under my area of specialization.
The other headliner in this auction was the finest known 1969-S doubled die obverse Lincoln cent in exemplary condition grading MS-66 RD by Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). It set an all-time record price of $601,875 including the buyer’s fee. This price was almost five times the previous record at public auction for a then-finest-known example in MS-64 RD, which was sold by Heritage in 2008 for $126,500.
A 1922-No D Lincoln cent Strong Reverse PCGS MS-64 RD CAC OGH fetched $253,126.
A very exciting 1943-D/D (RPM#1) Strong Repunched Mintmark Lincoln cent in PCGS MS-67, Lot #1272980, sold for $14,700.
A 1955 Lincoln cent doubled die obverse PCGS MS-65+ RD CAC sold for well over an astonishing quarter-million dollars settling in at $287,000.
A 1970-S Lincoln cent large date, doubled die obverse PCGS MS-66 RD CAC, Lot#1272985, sold for the record price of $38,000.
The only striking error offered in the auction was a 1974-S Lincoln cent struck in aluminum on a 2-paisa Nepalese planchet. Graded PCGS PF-68 Cameo, it sold for $199,687.50. Pretty lofty considering that U.S. on foreign planchets was largely ignored by error collectors for many years, and as a result often sold for under $100!
Other varieties and normal coins in the auction may be viewed online at www.greatcollections.com/Collections/847/The-Red-Copper-Collection-of-Lincoln-Cents/Archived.
All prices include the buyer’s fee.
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.
