“Multi-million Dollar Discovery!” Coin Dealer Discovers Hoard of Rare Pennies (1958 DDO)

“Multi-million Dollar Discovery!” Coin Dealer Discovers Hoard of Rare Pennies

On March 23, coin dealer Mike Bischoff announced to the world in a coin collecting publication the discovery of a lifetime.

Two months ago Bischoff, located in Palm Beach, FL, bought a bag of old pennies in 2015 which still remained sealed as issued by the Philadelphia Mint. This bag was issued in 1958.

While many similar bags were issued, this one was special.

“After I had opened the bag, I started looking for a rare variety that sold for over $1 million in January earlier this year. Five coins into the bag, I found one. Two coins later, I found another. The entire time, I was thinking ‘No way. No way!’”

In all, Bischoff found 1,383 examples of the rare coin in the bag.

This coin is special because the front of the coin, also known as the “obverse,” has a fully doubled image. This is because the design was stamped twice into the die, which is the apparatus that impresses the design onto the coin. Such errors are known as “doubled dies.”

Bischoff explained further: “Coins that feature strong doubled dies are highly coveted by collectors because they look so different from a normal coin. As such, they command a large premium over a normal coin.”

There is a similar misprint issued in 1955, but it is not worth nearly as much as the 1958 one because it is much more common.

“Before this hoard, only three 1958 doubled die cents were known to exist. The one that sold in January was by far the nicest of the three, and it was the first time it sold at auction.” Bischoff said.

Bischoff reported that he bought the bag from a gentleman, who had bought it from a bank in Tampa, FL in 1958.

“In addition, several of the coins exhibited evidence of a major obverse die failure, which indicates that the obverse die produced very few coins before it could not strike any more coins. That accounts for its rarity today. I strongly believe that nearly all of the 1958 doubled dies issued were sent to Tampa in this bag.”

When asked about the value of the hoard, Bischoff could not give a firm answer.

“Because there are so many of these coins now, they are no longer worth anywhere close to $1 million each. I feel really bad for the collector who paid over $1 million for the one in January. Regardless, this is still a multi-million dollar discovery!”

Bischoff plans to send all of the coins to the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) for expert grading, authentication, and encapsulation. The finest pieces will be sold at auction, and the remaining pieces will be distributed to some of the nation’s largest coin dealers to be sold.

Link:

https://www.cnn.com/style/amp/rare-penny-hoard-worth-millions/index.html

Here is an example of this variety in case you aren’t familiar with it:

 

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April fools

 

There are many fools in April. I looked in the mirror and saw one!

 

I've got a couple, if anyone is interested. LOL

 

I read your information and was sucked in to the last word, until I realized it was April 1st. Who invented April 1st as the "April Fools Day"? From now on, I will not look at anything to do with April 1st. It wasn't funny. I'm 75 and can't stand too many of these.

 

But wouldn't that be bad ___. To Stumble on a bag of cents with a major DDO/DDR. I am sure there are a few stashes among us.

 

April Fools Day is often considered to be named for Sir Edward April - though that may just be historical fiction (I posted this in General Discussion already). Sir Edward April, was an eccentric 19th century member of the English landed gentry. He lost his large family fortune (shipping) on investments in things like substituting hardened cow manure for coal to burn and a process to make cloth from seaweed. He took a young wife from the prominent Crompton (West Riding) family who made their fortune in cotton / textile manufacturing, in 1833. Cotton textile manufacturing was among the first industries to use steam power, and by 1841 had half a million workers. After only a year she divorced him citing the novel theory of "foolishness" as the basis for divorce (and desertion). She was successfully granted divorce and remarried. He became known as “Father of Fools” for his gullibility and was frequently taken in by fake stories. Like this one.

 

As I read it, all I can think was how idiotic the discoverer was to announce the discovery to the world, and then send them all for grading. Sucked in I was, until my wife reminded me it was April 1.