I remember as a child coin collector, reading coin magazines and books. I'm not sure where I learned about it, but the one error coin I knew about was the 1955 DDO Lincoln Cent. That was the coin to know and the coin to find. Even when talking with friends and such that were not into coins, they somehow knew about the 55 DDO. As I grew older, I then learned about the three legged Buffalo nickel, and that one was nearly as famous. However, that was about the only two errors I was really familiar with. When I became older, and a more refined collector, I began to realize that errors were more common than I even realized! When I was first introduced to LincolnCentResource (I believe it was from a member on this site), I was blown away with the number of Lincoln errors that were out there! I had no idea! Now, after collecting early Large Cents, I've come to realize that errors have been around since the inception of coin making, especially the US mint. But, that brings me back to my topic question. What made the 1955 DDO Such an icon when there are literally THOUSANDS of errors out there in all denominations!?? Some of my theories are: 1. Easy to spot with an untrained eye and without a magnifying glass. 2. Greater exposure due to magazine articles. 3. Higher population? Does anyone know, or have an opinion on this one?
Yes! When Helen Keller first came into contact with one of these, she instantly thought it was a counterfeit and demanded a replacement cent from the cashier. Chris
Your #1 and #2 combined. It was hyped early on, frankly as soon as it showed up, and it was an easy coin to identify. The hype and promotion was the really mportant one though. At that time errors were NOT really considered collectible and only a fringe group was interested in what were call FIDO's (Freaks, Irregular Defective Objects.) Errors such as off-centers were frequently consigned to the trash can because they were "defective" and not worth keeping. So for something like the 55 DDO to take off as it did, it required promotion. And the big win was when Whitman was convinced to include the coin in their Lincoln cent holders. Now in order to have a "complete" set everyone needed one. That created a lot more demand, talk, price increases, more talk, and the general public gets wind of it, a chance to find a valuable coin in their pocket change. (I saw the same thing happen with the 1972 and 1995 DDO cents. I had people telling me about the "valuable 1995 cent"! They didn't know what made it valuable, or how to identify the valuable one, so they were saving any 1995 cent they found just in case it was might be the one. Frankly I am truly surprised I haven't heard of people taking their hoards of 1995 cents to dealers looking to cash in. Maybe they found so may 95's that they guessed they couldn't be valuable after all and just dumped them back in the bank.)
I think it is one of the few doubled dies that is easy to recognize in the circulated grades. The fact that you could roll search and possibly find one had to be huge for its popularity.
The doubling is very visible to the naked it.......as I kid I looked at a redbook and saw a picture and was amazed myself! Even to this day I want to own one but don't want to spend that much on a penny.....what to do?
Thanks for the input everyone. I've always loved that coin... Truly an icon in the world of coin collecting for me. Whenever I think of a 'rare' or 'collectable' coin, the 55 has always been one that enters my imagination. I too would love to own one some day (even one of the poor man's version), however, it is well out of my coin collecting budget. I don't think that my mortgage company would truly appreciate me saying to them "I couldn't pay this month because I had to buy this cool 55 DDO!".... I guess when it comes to the 'hype' of the coin... I am perhaps too young to really remember such thing going on. Yes.. it was seen in some magazine articles... Yes, it was seen in the Redbooks and such.. but I don't recall ever seeing a giant article on the coin... or even dealers advertising this coin.. .So I guess in my own mind, I wasn't sure where the hype came from!
If I'm thinking right, some of these were actually found in cigarette packs from vending machines. Might be just a story. At a young age David Bowers was buying these up because he knew they were something special. I think he did well.
Just like the 1909-S VDB, most folks that have been exposed to coin collecting at all know about the 1955 DDO and most of those folks think it's cool. There's a large number of coin collectors that do not collect Lincoln Cents or any copper at all, but they'll still seek out a 1909-S VDB and/or a 1955 DDO for their collections just because it was a coin they always heard about and/or always dreamed about finding and owning as a kid. It's a cool coin. We even used the 55/55 from the 1955 DDO cent on the reverse of our Coin Club medal that we're having made for our club's 55th anniversary. Should have the medals by the end of the month and can't wait to see them!
On the other hand, it's not that there are so many errors that amazes me, it's that things so common as errors are documented so thoroughly. In fact each and every coin is unique. To me to collect errors is kind of like collecting fingerprints or snowflakes. Not interested in it myself, but if I notice that I have one I'll sell it to those that are! BTW, the 55 DDO and the 3-legged buffalo were also the ones I always heard of as a kid.
Thanks, we should be getting them in hand pretty soon. Our club had a few hundred made in both copper and in 1 oz. .999 silver. We also had a few made in .999 gold which should look really awesome!!
He and his partner started buying them early for a small premium (a quarter I believe) just as a novelty. They quickly amassed a fishbowl full of them and stopped buying them because they didn't want to have a whole bunch of these "worthless coins" tying up capital. They then gradually sold them off for a modest profit.
Conder: Actually, per one of his articles, he stopped buying them at 50 cents, since he had so many in stock.
FYI: The greatest promotion of all is the addition of a variety to the "Guide Book" aka Red Book. The 3 legged Buffalo was added to the Guide book in the 3rd edition, 1949. With a value of $1.50 in Fine, and $6.50 in Unc. The 1955 DoubleD die was added to the 160/13th Edition with a value of $50 in Unc. This is probably the foremost reason for the popularity of the varieties today. With Whitman's addition of them to the coin folders it ensured their popularity. Side Note: It was Ken Bressett who coined the term: "Doubled Die".
