1955/55 1C Lincoln Wheat Cent, Dble Die Obv NGC AU58BN (CAC)

Here it is! The uber-key date of the Lincoln Cent series: the 1955 Doubled Die! This is indeed a rare and special coin. Purchase this coin and you will enjoy it for many years to come. 

PCGS Coinfacts writes, “The original estimate of existing 1955 Doubled Die cents was anywhere from 20,000 to 24,000 coins. Nonetheless, many coins possibly got lost in circulation and the amount of surviving examples may be more like 10,000 to 15,000 examples in existence in all grades combined.”

NGC has graded 1,304 examples as AU58BN with 1,521 finer. Collectors Universe prices this rarity at $2,750.00 in AU58BN. In CAC, there are 311 in AU58BN with 435 finer. CAC gives the 1955 Doubled Die a price of $3,600.00 in AU58BN.

Here's a closeup photo from PCGS showing where the doubling is quite dramatic. Photo: PCGS Coinfacts.

When kids became coin collectors back in the 1960s one of the first coins they ever heard of was the "Holy Grail" of Lincoln cents: the 1955 Doubled Die, the most famous mint error/variety coin in American numismatics. The doubling on it is striking (no pun intended) and can easily be seen with the naked eye.

The doubling on the date, word "LIBERTY" and motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" are the most prominent. These doubled die coins were produced when the mint struck a working hub and a working die together while they were both slightly rotated differently from one another. Thus the working die received a 'doubled die' impression which resulted in thousands of 1955 Doubled Die cents being produced.