After attending a coin show at the Circus Circus Casino in Las Vegas, I couldn't help but think that the hobby of Numismatics is suffering from lack of interest, as evidenced by the poor attendance by both numismatists and sellers.  Maybe because it was later on Sunday afternoon, and many of the vendors had already packed up and left to attend the "Gun Show" at the Cashman Center, also occurring last weekend.  Who knows, maybe it is more important now to have plenty of guns and ammo than to pursue a very expensive hobby that excludes almost all kids, and many younger people who simply cannot afford to buy all the coins needed to fill a traditional collector book.

At the coin show, a father and his pre-teen son were looking at bargain bin coins, those more affordable for the young boy's pocket book.  Obviously the interest was there, but I could sense the boy's frustration as he longingly eyeballed the gold and silver coins, far beyond his financial reach.  Nevertheless, the boy had found a few needed coins for his nickel collection, maybe not "MS" (Mint State) examples, but hole fillers for sure. 

I asked the boy and his father if either of them had heard about the Lincoln Cent Errors of 2009, and neither one had. 

The 2009 Lincoln Cents are special for many reasons;
1.)  They are the lowest mintage in over 50 years.
2.)  There were four different reverse designs made only in 2009.
3.)  The PROOF and UNCIRCULATED SET cents were minted in the exact same   composition as the original 1909 Lincoln Cents, 95% copper, 5% zinc. (Not copper-plated like all circulation cents made since 1982.)
4.)  All four obverse (heads) and reverse (tails) designs had doubled die errors!

Since it is still possible to buy these cents from sellers on Ebay and other online sales sites, and in roll quantities, it is still quite possible for anyone to find and sell the doubled die errors for substantial profit.  It is important to have the right tools, though, such as a 20 to 30 power loupe (magnifying glass), or even better, a stereo microscope designed for coin observation.  These doubled die errors are very small, and are usually seen most readily in the center 3-5 millimeters of the reverse designs, and in the motto "LIBERTY" and date on the obverse doubled dies.

On the "Formative Years" (FY) cent, the second reverse design of 2009, the place to look is Lincoln's left hand, in which he is holding a book that he is reading while taking a break form splitting logs, said to be the way that he financed his education.  Most doubled die errors occur within the smallest red circle in the above photograph.

Of the 101 known doubled die errors on the FY reverse design, there are some that are very obvious, but most are quite subtle.  The obvious ones usually show extra thumb or index fingers within the smallest red circled area in the above photograph.

2009 1¢ FY WDDR-006

2009 1¢ FY WDDR-007

2009 1¢ FY WDDR-014

2009 1¢ FY WDDR-043

2009 1¢ FY WDDR-050

2009 1¢ FY WDDR-051

 The first reverse design of 2009 is known as the "Early Childhood" (EC), and is known to have over 150 different reverse doubled die varieties!  The doubling in this design occurs within the log ends at the center of the log cabin birthplace of Lincoln.

Doubled log ends are somewhat more difficult to see than fingers and thumbs, but with practice and patience, the anomalies become easier to detect.  The log ends are designated with numbers, starting from the bottom of the cabin upwards.  John Wexler uses these numbers to identify the location of doubling on the EC cent reverses in his wonderful web page, "Wexler's Die Varieties" (http://doubleddie.com/1801.html), which illustrates many errors in addition to the 2009 cents.  John describes die markers such as cracks, gouges and scratches to positively identify and differentiate the many different and similar doubled die errors.  The 2009 Lincoln cents having errors in the Philadelphia-minted EC reverse design (http://doubleddie.com/91301.html), as well as the Denver-minted reverse design (http://doubleddie.com/288622.html) are shown in the order of their submission to him for attribution and authentication.

2009 D 1¢ WDDR-043
 

The Denver-minted doubled die error at left has slight doubling to the right of the center of log number 9, and even more minor doubling also to the right of log number 7.  It is important to know what a "normal", non-doubled reverse design looks like before trying to ascertain whether or not a suspected coin is actually a doubled die or not.

On the right is a Philadelphia-minted doubled die error (2009 1¢ WDDR-013) which shows doubling to the left of logs 7, 8 and 9.  Log number 7 lines up with the bottom of the small window in the cabin.  Getting to know the various shapes and locations of the EC doubled dies can be a real challenge, but the practice makes one more observant and trains the eye to recognize subtle variations in design.

The two last reverse designs of 2009 that commemorate Lincoln's bicentennial are the Professional Life (PL) and President in Washington (PW) designs.  As of October 2013, twenty seven doubled die reverse varieties are now known to exist on the PL cents, and only one variety is currently shown in Wexler's web pages for the PW design.  It seems that as time went by, the Mints became aware of the doubled die errors, and may have made extra efforts to prevent so many from occurring as in the previous two designs.

Again, most of the doubling in the PL design occurs within the smallest red circle in the above photograph.  Of the 27 known varieties, most prominent doubling involves the third top window from the right of Lincoln, known as the "Target Window".

Remember that these photos are highly magnified, and that the actual size of the doubling involves only a few millimeters at most.  Just to the right of the third column right of Lincoln's overcoat, in the upper floor's window, is the Target Window to look for doubling.  Sometimes occurring in the columns as well as in the windows, the doubling can be obvious or subtle.  Rotating the coin helps to better observe some errors.


2009 1¢ PL WDDR-002






What appears to be the top of a column and a doubled window appear inside and to the right of the Target Window in this close up of WDDR-002.  This one is relatively easy to see, and is visible no matter how the coin is turned rotationally in reference to the light source on the microscope platform.  Few others exhibit this radical kind of doubling in the PL series.




The final "President in Washington" (PL) design of 2009 shows a famous view of the unfinished Capitol rotunda in Washington D.C. during it's renovation before the Civil War.  Doubling on this design is arguably the most difficult to see, and since there is only one acknowledged doubled die of this design, fewer collectors offer this variety for sale online.  This design, and the Philadelphia PW cents particularly, have the lowest mintage of all four designs of 2009.  The doubling on this cent is most easily seen in the sixth windows from the left corner of the building, in both the arched lower and round upper windows.  This area falls within the inner small red circle and the next one out.

 

 

If you are interested in further study, or if you would like to build a collection of these remarkable one-year-only cents, my book, "An Introduction to 2009 Lincoln Cent Errors" will help you to find them more easily, with dependable and predictable sources that will surprise you.  Rolls and bank boxes of these amazing commemorative pennies are still available, but they are becoming a bit harder to buy as cheaply as they were just a year ago.  If you know a young person who has given up hope of building a collection of value and interest from modern coins, this is a very good place to start.

 

October 22, 2013