Mystery 1955 penny?

Hey dudes! I found this coin in a collection my step dad gave me years ago. I never thought it was anything until I was scoping one day and took a close look at it and found something peculiar. A man from ANACS at a coin show thought it was a genuine quadruple error 1955 that got stuck in the shaft and hit 4 times but I've shown it to Fred W. and he says it's damaged. So what's going on with it you may be wondering? Well, there is an extra 'ST' of the word trust, raised up as you can see in the picture, that boggles my mind. It's got a weird dome shape to it too, which seems odd for a hammer slam by some kid in his room or whoever would do that, that's what I was told must have happened. I can't figure out how or why anyone would do that in their garage, on some very expensive machinery to be able to do that I would think. Some guy with a hammer didn't do that, it would take a fine metalergist to make those letters. It just doesn't make sense to me so I am wondering if anyone can shed some light on how and why some crook would fake this coin in this way? I can understand trying to double it, in a conventionally typical looking way, we see those but this is either the real deal like the man from ANACS was saying or the worst attempt by the worst criminal to ever live (which considering the work, seems illogical to think the guy was not clever) which in that case, still makes it a very unique coin in the 55 series and somewhat valuable. I mean, this is more unique then the actual 55 double die's and the story is made even more interesting with this coin, people going this far in an attempt to strike it rich with a penny. Just look at it....What is that about, you know what I mean? It's a rare and extremely lucky coin either way, I don't think I'd ever get rid of this one. It's the only one, ever, it can't be remade or replicated. It's pretty cool. I've found over 100 4leaf clovers but only one of these. If it's just a damaged coin, then I have to argue that it's the BEST damaged coin to ever exist! This thing is amazing! It's fine art. If it's a fake, it's the Picasso of fakes. Has anyone ever seen anything like this before? Especially that ST, that is just strange right? Seems to me, if this was a fake, it would have been attempted to have been sold by the maker. It wouldn't have ended up in my step dad's coin collection in the 60's when he was a kid collecting coins. So, maybe somebody has heard of this back in the day in the 50's before it went into the box? Some really bad example of an attempt to sell a fake 55...anybody? This coin has my curiosity on fire, I almost wanna track down the guy who made it if he's still alive and ask him what he was thinking? Or, if it came from the mint somehow? Like some employee playing around back in 55 made this one coin to screw with people. Who knows? I certainly don't. I'm never gonna find another one like her tho, I'll tell you that and that's awesome! How many times a life do you get a one of a kind coin, you know? Never, there is always another. Not with this tho, this is the gold nugget of the 55's in my opinion. Wether it's some guy in his garage or not, just adds to the story of the infamous 1955 double die. I get to hold a true piece of history every time I touch this one. It's almost as if it's even better then a 55 double die for me but I don't have one of those so I don't know lol! I feel it's luck tho and I hope you do too, Goodluck on your finds guys! Thanks for any help in solving this 55 Mystery!

 

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It was smashed with another coin. That's why the lettering is backwards. Often called a "vice job" or "squeeze job".

 

Fred W. Was correct.. Damaged

 

The fact there's a partially reversed LIBERTY is rather suggestive of a vise* job.

For @Stevearino

 

The correct Numismatic Terminology is Doubled Die.. not double die. Big difference.

 

"the worst attempt by the worst criminal to ever live..."

Umm, no. Not even close.

That said, and after re-reading your post, I can't help but to wonder if you're a salesman by profession?

 

I hear ya. A vice job would flatten the coin, this one is concaved guys. Also, how can a vice create an extra ST like that? Take a closer look man. I thought it was a hammer job at first too, until I saw that raised up ST under a scope. How'd that happen? The guy from ANACS @ the coin show I brought it to offered me $20,000 for this coin when he held it in his hands and scoped it himself. He wasn't an amateur you know? He really thought it was the real deal.

 

Take it.

 

+1

 

Fred W. Is not an amateur.. When he says it is damaged it means it is damaged!

 

+2

 

Yeah... sure he did.

You want the coin to be something special, I understand and can't honestly blame you, but tall tales change nothing and only hurt both your case and credibility.

 

Since you turned down 20 Gs, how much do you think your coin is worth? I would've taken 1000.00 for it but I'm just an amateur, not that good at spotting all these errors yet.

 

I'm a musician and a writer, we sell ourselves man lol. It's just how I talk. And yes, it is a Picasso of fakes if it's a fake man. Take a closer look you'll get it. Just need to take a minute and really think, what is going on with this coin? Instead of going for the quick answer. Believe me, I did that too, this coin was in a box for a decade before I scoped it and found the ST. That ST, that is what's weird. Not the reversing of the date and lettering. That's obvious, until you look at the ST. We all do the same thing, myself included, we think it's a vice job/hammer job, some kid playing around. It isn't until I saw the ST that my curiosity was lit on this one. That's the weird part, which if it's a fake, makes it a piece of fine art because of the creativity. I mean, it's friggin nuts. It looks nothing like a 55 doubled die so it's not an imposter and a kid couldn't do that kind of metal work to form an st like that. It's really good work, highly skilled work to be able to do that. Look at it real close too, it's indented from the opposite coin, the bust of Lincoln, so how'd that ST get there before it got 'vice'? Look at the rim of the coin too, what's happening there? See how it's domed? I took a penny and slammed it with a hammer to see what it would do and it doesn't do that. So, what did? I'm not trying to sell it, I was offered money for it. It's priceless to me. This is the lucky clovers of coins man, it's the only one like it. Literally, and that's not a pitch or lie, it's just simply the truth. It's a lucky coin to me. I think it has a lot of history, if someone faked this, they really spent some time on it and the creativity to make a coin this weird, I think it's artistic. It represents our entire culture, how money influences us. What coin has ever done that before? It's ironic and oxy-moronic, a fine piece of American Cultural Art on the desire for money within our culture. That somebody would go that far to try and make the American Dream a reality and get rich off of a penny? It blows my mind man, I think it's really cool.

 

A well known fake error creator could of created it. His name is Frank G. Spadone... He created a lot of fake errors similar to yours a few decades ago.

 

+3

 

Ehh... I see someone has one hell of an imagination.

If you like your coin that's great, but please don't tell ridiculous stories or make up all these fantastical comparisons and expect anyone to believe them or agree with you.

Perhaps you should ask Dan Carr for a job.

 

I'm not lying man, I'm not trying to sell the coin. I'm not that kind of person, I turn money down all the time dude. It's Ezy to do. You can do it too, it's ok. It's only money. This is a lucky coin, it's worth more then money to me. And it's a gift from my step dad, that means more to me then whatever anyone would offer. I'll talk story because I'm a story teller but all good stories are based in truth. Everything I'm saying is the truth. Paul from ANACS, Norwich CT, 2015, told me he only had $20,000 in his purse to spend, that was his limit. He would have offered more if he could of. He suggested I go to LA and talk to Fred directly. So I did. Fred took a quick look and said it was a vice slam, but he didn't see the ST. I boxed it again but my curiosity got the better of me and I wrote Fred. He suggested today I post it up here, I'm still not sure what he thinks about the ST, because he hasn't give me an answer on it yet. He say's that I can get the answers here that I'm looking for. Examples of similar fakes or stories about stuff like this, etc. I don't know if it's a fake honestly, the way Paul was describing it getting stuck in the tube instead of being rejected and then it getting slammed by another coin, he worked out how the dome shape happened and how the ST got stamped and why it is off centered and everything including the reversing of the lettering by another coin in the tube, not in a vice. That's the only way he could explain the ST. I don't understand the machines well enough to grasp it totally, but he was very ready to buy it yet said it was worth more and that $20,000 was cheap. That's all he could spend. It's not in my interests to sell it either, I like having it more then the money. So I didn't take $20,000, whatever man. That's not what it's about sometimes. These days, I could spend a lot more then $20,000 just as fast as this penny, but this penny, there's only one. I'm more interested in the story of this thing because that's priceless. At least to me, maybe not for everybody. That's cool. Might take me another decade to figure out what is going with this thing but I'm in it for the long haul. I'd hang this one on my wall, it's a serious piece art to me. If it's a legit quad strike, better for it. If it's not, then it's the king kong of fake pennies. You gotta think about it man, if someone faked a coin it would be for financial gain I would assume, so why would anyone do that? Nobody would ever buy this coin except for Paul from ANACS. That's just simply the truth, I'm not lying or trying to sell it. I think it's some history for the coin community man. For real. Ever heard of someone offering $20,000 for a fake coin? Either way bro, this thing is already making history and that just the facts. Let people know, it's a legit something, might not be a real error, but it's something still. I call it fine art, because it's just like an art piece. You can't look at this thing in your hands with a scope and not think, just like good art does. So, it's art dude. Either way. You're just one of the first people to hear about it man, don't discredit it and hide it back away, bring it out and show it around. That's what I'm doing this for, there is something special about this coin. It truly is a lucky coin, like a lost gem.

 

Maybe it's not about the money, ever think about it like that?

 

@Fred Weinberg Have you seen this 1955 Cent?