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.

Because of economic conditions that year, mintage of smaller denomination coins (pennies, nickels and dimes) was limited to some of the lowest numbers in recent history.  Demand for the four 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.

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)
Many of the 101 known doubled die FY cents consistently sell online for prices ranging from a few dollars to hundreds.

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!

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).  The EC cents are at a premium, because they were the lowest number produced, and they can be found on Ebay for between $50 and $100 per two-roll set, labeled "LP1".

A guidebook for collectors has recently been published, detailing 2009 Lincoln cent errors, and showing where certain doubled die errors can be reliably found in LP1 through LP4 Mint boxes.  (https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1131870)  "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.  The photos above show several examples of doubled fingers that appear on the 2009 Formative Years Lincoln cent reverse design doubled die coins.

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.

A wonderful descriptive website which details all of the known 2009 Lincoln cent doubled die errors is available online at (http://doubleddie.com/92301.html).  Created by John Wexler, 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.