If You Have A Coin With This Defect, It Could Be Worth A Ton Of Money

Coin collectors are forever searching for a needle in a haystack. These modern-day treasure hunters are always on the hunt for gold — or, more realistically, a coin clad in really old cupronickel. The tiny treasures of coin currency are a charming reminder that some things used to be done person to person, rather than through an endless carousel of data-harvesting apps. However, a coin collector's quarry is also small enough that it could easily get lost in a pocket, let alone the sands of time.

Coins are small enough that some of their specific valuable details (and defects) could get missed in the thrill of the hunt. One such defect might even make you see double when expertly searching your spare change for rare coins, or at least make you think you see double — but the real double deal could make a coin worth far more than its very trippy face value.

"Doubled die" coins are defect coins that not only draw the coin collector's eye but also might simultaneously make them hurt. Doubled die coins, which are never to be referred to as "double die" coins — which don't exist to particularly persnickety coin collectors – or as "double strike" coins, which are different altogether — bear an offset image-doubling error. This error begins in the coin's hubbing process and can end by creating one of the most expensive pennies supposedly still in circulation.

Doubled die coins happen due to an error made while creating the coin's die ala known as the coin hubbing process. A coin die is a cone-shaped piece of metal that the coin's design elements are engraved on, including the obverse (heads) design, the reverse (tails) design, and other text. Coin dies are usually made of steel, a metal sturdy enough to handle an engraving and endure the high temperatures required in order to stamp its design into other metals. However, when this die is damaged it can lead to doubled die coins containing essentially a doubled image on the die itself. 

The damaged die then presses doubled-up design elements onto blank coins in the coin press. This isn't to be confused with double struck coins, which you can identify from a full or partial pattern being struck twice onto one coin, creating a coin that looks like a double-exposed photograph. Instead, doubled die coins look like their design elements have a dimensional drop-shadow effect, or like they're being viewed through "drunk goggles."

Not all doubled dies are created equal in the eyes of collectors. Strongly doubled coins tend to be more valuable (and easily identified) than others, because the doubled look is pronounced, and thus, the error is clearly the work of a defective die. But slighter shifts in relief, rubbed down by years of circulation or even made by a machine shifting slightly during pressing, rather than a true doubled die, can muddy the doubled, troubled waters.

The 1955 doubled die Lincoln cent helped kick off the error coin collecting craze during the 1960s and 1970s. However, this coin is so collectible and regularly discussed in collectors' communities, that it might not easily end up as valuable spare change you should check before throwing away. Per price guide data from the widely respected Numismatic Guarantee Company, or NGC, a 1955 doubled die Lincoln penny can fetch anywhere from $1,000 to $85,000, depending on its current color and condition.

Other doubled die cents can bring in a cool couple bucks, even if not as impressive an amount as the 1955 edition. The 1972 doubled die cent can be worth anywhere from $175, up to $600 if in fantastic condition. A hard to find quarter from the 1930s is also worth a small fortune due to its doubled die status, but perhaps not so hefty a fortune as one of the most valuable doubled die coins on record. In January 2023, a very rare 1958 doubled die penny sold for $1.136 million at an auction held by the California-based GreatCollections. It goes to show that saving your pennies might be worthwhile, but so might scanning your pennies. Maybe one of them will be doubled-up enough to generate money you can really take to the bank.