1955 Double Die Wheat Penny
Wheat pennies have become some of the most essential coins to have in a collection ever since the two wheat stalks on the reverse of the coin were replaced by a memorial design in 1959. Wheat pennies are a rare find that become rarer still as the years go by. Some of these wheat pennies of such limited issue that they have become valuable collector’s items, particularly if they were produced under a distinct “key date” and mint mark.
One of these rare collectible pennies is the 1955 doubled die Lincoln cent. This famous coin was minted with an obvious error: two separate impressions hubbed into the cast. This caused a very apparent double image on the front of the coin.
Only up to 24,000 coins were minted with these doublings, and while the U.S. Mint noticed the mistake, they let the coins go into circulation anyway, thinking nobody would spot the difference.
Of course lots of people did. Due to the huge publicity created by these doubled die Lincoln pennies, an increasing number of people took to collecting coins, particularly those of the rare variety. In fact, the 1955 doubled die wheat penny is an essential part of every Lincoln coin collection. These coins fetch from $950 to over $5,000 in the market today, and no collection is ever complete without it.
Custom Search