2009 Lincoln Cent Doubled Die Errors Found!

Many collectors are not aware of the fact that in 2009 the U.S. Mints produced four different reverse side designs on the Lincoln cent, commemorating the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, and various aspects of his lifetime and career.  A depiction of his log cabin birthplace in Kentucky is known as the “Early Childhood” reverse.  The “Formative Years” reverse shows Abe reading a book while taking a break from rail splitting, a way young strong men made money then by selling the rails to the westward advancing railroads.  The third design features young Lincoln in front of the Illinois State House, where he practiced law and became familiar with the world of politics.  The final design shows the unfinished U.S. Capitol rotunda in 1865 Washington D.C., the year of Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre.  Many feel the design and original photograph from 1865 symbolize the unfinished nature of Lincoln’s later term, after his “Emancipation Proclamation” was issued, but before the actual end of the Civil War protesting equality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of U.S. economic conditions in 2009, mintage of smaller denomination coins (pennies, nickels and dimes) was limited to some of the lowest numbers in recent history. Demand for the four Lincoln cent designs was high from the start, and premiums have been charged for rolls and individual coins available online and from numismatic sellers in magazines.

The four reverse side designs for the 2009 Lincoln cents are, in chronological order, the Early Childhood (EC), Formative Years (FY), Professional Life (PL) and President in Washington (PW).   Already short in supply, demand continues to increase because of the fact that all four reverse designs have had doubled die errors on them, causing an immediate chase by the error-collecting community. Microscopic movements of the dies used to create the coins is the cause for the doubled die and other types of errors in the 2009 issues. I have written a book about these error coins entitled “An Introduction to 2009 Lincoln Cent Errors“, which fully describes them and how one might build a collection of them. Check out the preview at:

Proof 2009 S WDDR-005

An example of a PROOF 2009-S 1¢ commonly referred to as “WDDR-001” sold for $2,600 in an Ebay auction that ended July 20, 2009. The Denver, Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints have all had doubled die errors in each of the four reverse design Lincoln cents of 2009. (http://doubleddie.com/293043.html)

I was fortunate to find the Proof error shown above online for less than $20.  It shows a doubled index finger above the normal one that seems to fuse with the book spine.  Known as 2009-S 1¢ Pr FY WDDR-005, it could sell online for hundreds of dollars.  Both Proof (coin production method, not condition) and Uncirculated Set cents from 2009 were composed of the original 1909 composition of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc.  Since only 2,995,615 of each cent were produced in Proof, and all were individually struck with special attention to prevent errors or anomalies from happening, the Proof errors are EXCEEDINGLY rare and demand much higher premiums than the “normal” circulation quality doubled die errors do.  The doubled die errors make up only a very small percentage of the total Proof cent output because of the many safeguards and examination processes that had to be performed before they were packaged for sale to collectors in 2009.  Both Proof and Uncirculated Sets sold out quickly at the Mint web page, resulting in wild after-market prices online and at coin stores and shows, with premium prices continuing to be seen even now in 2014.

 

There are also many examples of the original “bronze” composition “Satin Finish Uncirculated Set” Lincoln cents with doubled die errors on them. Because of their relatively low mintage (784,614 of each reverse design in 95% copper), these uncommon errors carry a premium as well, with some selling in the hundreds to thousands of dollars range.

Many of the 101 known doubled die FY cents consistently sell online for prices ranging from a few dollars to hundreds.  Condition is key, as always, and it is not easy to find 2009 cents that exceed MS-65 in condition.  For this reason, as with almost all collectible coins, the market price paid for MS-66+ coins goes crazy!

Young numismatists (coin collectors) have been frustrated by the fact that so many new coins are produced every year by the U.S. Mint that have little or no collectible value. Now, with the 2009 Lincoln cent errors, they finally have something worthwhile to search for in rolls and in U.S. Mint “LP2” boxes of two-roll sets. Add to the scarcity of the errors the fact that the total Lincoln cent mintage numbers from 2009 were barely 1/10th the “normal” Mint output in almost 50 years!  With magnification, these errors are quite easy to see, with the exception of the “minor errors”, which require not only microscopic magnification, but also require a good idea of how the “normal” design looks on each of the four reverses, and on the obverse as well.  Only with this ability can one discern the minor errors with a lesser degree of difficulty.

The Mint has long since sold out of the “LP” boxes, but they are available in the secondary market for sometimes less than the initial retail price of $8.95 plus shipping ($4.95).   My book,  “An Introduction to 2009 Lincoln Cent Errors“, shows what tools a novice or professional numismatist will need to discover and attribute the elusive and rare anomalies from the U.S. Mint.

2009 1¢ EC WDDR-108

2009 1¢ FY WDDR-006

 

These photos show several examples of doubling on logs and  fingers that appear on the 2009 Early Childhood and Formative Years Lincoln cent reverse design doubled die coins.

2009 1¢ PL WDDR-002

2009 1¢ PW WDDR-001

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Professional Life reverse shows doubling in windows of the second story, while the only doubled die reverse of the President in Washington cent appears as wider window sills.  If you are new to coin collecting, this would make a terrific place to start in learning the tools and techniques to use in order to find and collect a set of doubled die errors, whether for your own collection, or for sale.

My book, “An Introduction to 2009 Lincoln Cent Errors” contains detailed information on this and other types of errors, and is available on Amazon.com.

Also, are you familiar with John Wexler’s highly informative web page, “Wexler’s Coin and Die Varieties”?

On this site you will find answers to many questions about coin errors.
http://www.doubleddie.com/144801.html

http://doubleddie.com/92301.html).

The site is invaluable for collectors to positively identify and attribute individual doubled die errors by their “die markers” and other unique indicators that allow differentiation of the many similar-appearing errors.