1955 1C Doubled Die Obverse, FS-101, BN MS(PCGS#37910)

The January 2013 Americana Sale

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

12169

等级

MS65BN

价格

56,736

详细说明

1955 Lincoln Cent. FS-101. Doubled Die Obverse. MS-65 BN (NGC). CAC. Exceptional surface quality for this prized DDO error, as the surfaces are clean and show little more than a couple of shallow nicks and scuffs. Faded golden-red luster exists in the protected areas, and there are no troubling specks or spots as so commonly seen on examples of this variety. Destined for a high grade Lincoln cent collection, and worthy of a strong bid.<br /> The story was first told in detail by Dave Bowers in 1964 in his first book, <em>Coins and Collectors,</em> but is worth repeating in summary here: In 1955 Jim Ruddy (who in 1958 became Dave&rsquo;s partner in the Empire Coin Company in Johnson City, New York), was shown a Lincoln cent with curiously doubled letters and numbers on the obverse. He found it interesting, and bought it for 25 cents. This attracted the attention of a newspaper writer who interviewed Jim, and he said he would pay a quarter each for all offered. After a couple dozen came in he rescinded his offer. <br /> It turns out that nearly all were found in cigarette packs. The price of a pack in a vending machine was 23 cents at the time. Anyone inserting a quarter would get a pack of cigarettes with two bright Lincoln cents under the cellophane on one side. At that time there was very little interest in mint error and die error coins. That did not happen until some years later when Frank Spadone, a New Jersey dealer, published a booklet on the subject and, also a bit later, Michael Kolman, Jr., of the Federal Coin Exchange in Cleveland, advertised and displayed struck mint errors (as opposed to error dies). Now in 2013 interest is intense in such fascinating die varieties, mainly propelled by the standard work on the series, <em>Cherrypicker&rsquo;s Guide to Rare Die Varieties</em> by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton.&nbsp;<br /> Dave contacted the Philadelphia MInt and spoke with the person who was involved. It turned out that on one particular day multiple presses