Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 9/18/2007

Question
I have a Penny that on one side is a Lincoln head 1953 with a mint mark of D. The other side of the coin is also a Lincoln head but with a date of 1937 and no mint mark. The thickness of the penny is less than two Penny’s but slightly thicker than one Penny. The edge of the coin appears to have two layers. What do I have here?

Answer
Hello, Lee, I get quite a few of these.  This is most likely a novelty item, made for magicians and magic tricks, by hollowing out one side of a coin and putting part of a different coin into the hollow and then sealing the two edges together.  You should be able notice the seam on the edge (I think that is what you mean by the coin appears to have two layers).  The great difference in the dates of the coin suggests that this would not have happened by mistake at the mint -- there would not be 1937 dies available in 1953 to make a two headed coin.  Jim Lawniczak