Expert: Dan Moore - 12/28/2011

Question
Dear Sir,
I have a 1958 Penny.And I realize that the DDO of that era is one the most sought after Pennys.There are only 2found.I looked at the Picture on LCR site,and read articles on What it should look like for it be a DDO....but,out of some 800,000.00 Production there has to be some a little variation.Again,my GUT feeling..whats your feeling?
         A General outlook without a picture of my 1958 Error Penny#1

1. The Eye lid on Linclon shows A GLINT and its 2-4 times the size it should be.Why? How did that happen?
2. The L in Liberty.As I tilt the Penny to the Edge I can see a dividing line on the LETTER (L).Why? and How did it get there?
3.To the Extreem Right Middle Exterior Portion,the (Edge) of Linclons Jacket has another line going up to his Bow.This line is not part of his Jacket.It can be seen by a ordinary Magnifying Glass.Its like there is another Image of lincoln hiding behind the image.Why? And how did that happen? Is this also Part of Machine Doubling?This line has a Zincy color like the one right adjacent to it and a tiny space between the two...
4.The Entire Image of Linclon is more Thicker in General compared with another 1958,The VDB initals Dullish...

I compared the Extrnal Jacket (overline) with other Wheat Pennys and they don't show any! There also a hole punched in Linclons jacket on Left lower portion about 1mm in diameter.
Even the Back of Penny Letter are Thicker in comparion to another 1958 Penny that (normal,I have one) to compare..with.
Do you happen to have a LINK to images similar of 1958's online,I did try to search,but the only are just normal 1958's or the one at LCR.The 1958 info online is hard to find any at all....
The reason I think that this might be a different variety of DDO of that age is that there sometimes many varieties of DDO's in a production eg:1972's (8 different) and some are very hard to detect via a naked eye.Could a 1958 Wheat Penny exhibit such attributes...any chance?What your thought? or have they all been found and checked all nearly One Million Pennys!
I would appreciate any advise you can offer...God Bless!and Happy New Year!
Beck
Kissimmee FL
PS:The Grade of the 1958 is around is in the AU middle area.

Answer
Hi Beck,

I'm not real familiar with this particular DDO, but I do know there are more than one variety of DDO for the 1958 penny.  However, the only major variety -- the only one that's worth any significant money -- is the number 1, and from what I'm reading, there are only 3 examples of those known, all certified by PCGS.  There are arguments that they never got released into circulation, which would explain why there aren't 1,000 known.

There are pictures of the valuable DDO here :

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u8/lcl1119/Lincoln/Misc/Lincoln1958DDOCoin.jp

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p260/mjpruitjr/LINCOLNVARIETIES/58ddo-1.jpg


Ken Potter also has an excellent article here :

http://koinpro.tripod.com/Articles/1958DoubledDieCent.htm


There are, I believe, 4 other lesser DDO varieties -- none of which are worth more than $10 in UNC.  I'm not familiar with the characteristics of each, but perhaps you have one of them.

You might consider getting a copy of "The Authoritative Reference on Lincoln Cents" by John Wexler and Kevin Flynn, avaiable from Amazon here :

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003T88ROG/theworkimansrare


I hope this helps,

Dan