Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 7/22/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi! I got misprint coin: 1 penny - 1 side:head of President,and it dayted "1939", other side : head of President and it dayted :"1942" what is the value ?

ANSWER: Gene, almost certainly you have a magician's coin -- one put together by combining two obverse sides of a cent, used for magic tricks.  You can buy them from magician supply stores.  If you look at the edge, you should see the place, a seam, where the two pieces were put together.  If you go to www.ebay.com, and do a search for two headed cent, or two headed penny or two headed coin and other variations, you should see some for sale, Jim Lawniczak

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your respond. I looked carefully at my coin and there is no trace of a seam on the edge. I've seen some magician's coin and my coin looks totally different...like whole peace.

Answer
Gene, it was thought for a long time that these two headed or two tailed coins couldn't possibly be mint products, but recently there are a couple out there that experts think probably were authentic.  But they are extremely rare and thus it is very unlikely that any piece is indeed that rarity.  In your case, it seems impossible that the mint would still have a 1939 obverse die on hand in 1942 when the other die became available.  If your piece is indeed an authentic mint piece, there would have had to be some shenanigans going on at the mint (although the 1913 nickel show us that that is possible).  

On the other hand, because they are very rare, they can bring very large sums of money.  The only way to be sure is to show it to an expert, either at a coin show or a coin shop.  Try doing a search at www.google.com for coin show and your city then coin shop and your city and see what comes up, Jim