The 1955 Double-Die Penny.

Cafe Society
1

I have to admit, I do have one guilty pleasure, that is a holdover from when I was just a kid. I love collecting coins I get in change. Not from a store. Change. It just fascinates me still.

I mainly collect Bicentennial quarters and wheat stalk pennies. But as of late, I have come across some old silver nickels in change. I don’t even know who is giving them to me. I just notice them when I come home. They date, some of them, from the 1940’s. I am sure they aren’t worth much, even with their silver content. But I am still intrigued, who would be giving them to me? One time, I even got a mercury dime, believe it or not. (I really like the mercury dime. It was the last U.S. coin to feature the effigy of Liberty on it. It was replaced, appropriately enough by the FDR dime. FDR was instrumental in the march of dimes charity, you know.)

Anyways, as I said, I do it for the pleasure, not the money. But, hey, why not have it both ways? I know I collected many many wheat stalks as a child. And when I finally valued all my tally when I got older, I did have one that was worth about a dollar. A dollar! Probably not worth all the time and effort I put in it. But still.

Enter the 1955 double die penny. (For those of you who don’t collect coins, the “double die” refers to the fact the date is double stamped on the face of the coin.) Are there still any of those left in circulation? I know I read an ad from the 1980’s that claimed there were. And they are worth quite a pretty penny, if you will forgive the pun.

I know I do still come across a lot of pennies from the 1950’s still, in my change. (As you know, they recalled all the silver coins in the late 60’s. But pennies are different, in this regard.) Could my patience really pay off some day? A 1955 double die?

And please, feel free to offer your own stories. Although as I said, this thread is officially only about this one coin:).

:):):slight_smile:

2

I do the same thing. Only coins found in change. I collect Lincoln pennies 1909 to 1975. Also I collect the Jefferson nickles. There are only about 65 of those in the Whitman folder.

I agree, it’s fun. One of my wheat pennies came from an old dresser I bought. Another one I found in my back yard after a hard rain!

Simple pleasures.

3

Silver coins were never “recalled.” People pulled them from change when a dime became worth 11 cents.

Good luck on the 1955 double die.

4

I always resisted the idea that mint errors should be in my collection for it to be complete. That way I was able to claim I had a complete set of Lincoln cents from 1909 until I discovered girls, in 1973.

The collection remains treasured, despite that loss of fervor.

5

Eh, if you’re going to dream, dream big. Maybe one of those wheaties will be a 1943 copper: I don’t think those are all accounted for, either.

6

The only Jefferson nickels that contained silver were made during WWII, therefore the only silver Jefferson nickels you could get would be from the 1940’s.

7

They are getting rarer but, as a cashier, I’ll still find the occasional pre-1965 silver coin in the till.

8

I’d settle for a 1922 in mint condition. Barring that, a 1914D would do me just fine.

9

What always struck me was how extremely well worn so many of the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and halves are from “back in the day”, while coinage is basically a nuisance today because of monetary inflation in those days small change had a lot of purchasing power and was spent and respent until they were barely readable. While the odds are extremely low at receiving anything truly rare or collectable today it’s worth keeping an eye on, at least.

10

I have a 1909 penny. Might be one of the “big ones” value wise. Randomly found it as a kid and have never had much more than the most passing interests in coin collecting.

Problem is the thing is so damn worn I’m not even 100 percent positive it IS a 1909 penny…much less one of the ones.

11

I’m in the habit of picking up coins I find lying around. A number of years ago I picked up an old penny in a parking lot. I didn’t look at the date until I got home, when I discovered that it was a 1914-D!!! I recently sold it on eBay for $400. I also sold my 1909-S VDB for $750. I had a 1922 with a “weak reverse.” Valuable, but not nearly as much as the “strong reverse” variety.

I’ve got 407 rolls of Wheaties stashed away. Damn, they’re heavy!

See if there’s an “S” under the date, and a tiny “VDB” at the bottom of the reverse. Without these, it’s not worth much.

12

Apparently the 55 double die was being issued by cigarette machines as change around the Worcester MA area.

13

Yep. Most of the issue was released around MA.

14

I was really excited to find a 1861 penny once, in unbelievable condition.
It was a 1981, I was reading it upside down. :smack:

15

Jim, Jim, Jim. Now look what you’ve gone and done. I have a big jar of coins waiting to go to the machine and get cashed in. Can I do that now? No I can’t, good ol’ Jim has convinced me that there might just be a fortune in that there jar.:smiley:

16

Last time i went to coinstar, along with the canadians and random tokens, the rejected coins included three silver dimes! It couldn’t deal with the real thing. Typical technology.

17

About a year ago, my buddy got a 1920s silver dollar from a convenience store. The clerk said, “Oh good, you can have this old ugly thing”.

18

‘Old ugly thing’?! That cashier should be flogged. The Morgan and Peace dollars were far prettier designs than what we have today.

19

I’m a store cashier, and I keep the old coins I get.

My favorite is a 1976 Kennedy bi-centennial half dollar. I also have some George VI pennies.

I also have five, ten, twenty and fifty dollar bills from 1950. A new, young cashier recently got a 1950 twenty dollar bill, and asked me if it was okay to take it.

20

I found a 1950 dime in my vending machine change a few months ago. Still have it in my pocket. I like to impress youngsters with how it sounds different from a “sandwich” dime when dropped on the floor.