Expert: Ronald Fern - 11/23/2009

Question
The Lincoln Memorial Cent I have has two reverses.  If you look at one side as being correct at 0 degrees and then flip it to the left the Lincoln Memorial is at 70 degrees.  The weight is less than 1/10 of an ounce, that was the best I could do at the Post Office Scale. The thickness of it is .064 inch as I measured it with a caliper.  Cannot see any line on the edge of it. Like I stated from before I have had it since about 1980.

Answer
Hi Ernie:

I've answered this question, or a similar one several times in the few months I've been associated with "AllExperts", so there appears to be a few coins out there with two heads or two tails. These are likely two real coins that have been altered outside the mint to make one coin with two of the same sides.

Your coin is likely a "magic coin" used to trick people when you guess heads or tails, for you always loose when this party picks "heads". In your case, whoever "glued" the two altered coins together did not align them properly. They would be 180 degrees out of phase, as a "normal" coin. It is an interesting conversation piece, and they usually sell for a few dollars. It has no added numismatic value.

It is impossible for a coin to have two heads, or tails, as the obverse and reverse dies and there corresponding alignment features are different sizes.

If you have a magnifying glass, look closely at either the inside of the rim on one side of the coin, or the edge. The "magic pieces" are parts of two separate coins that have been cut up and glued or bonded together.

You coin will make a different sound when dropped on a glass surface (table top).
A true coin will have a "ring" to it, where the magic coin, being two pieces, will make a dull sound.

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.