It’s theoretically possible to find one of these ultra error rarities in pocket change. It’s also theoretically possible for you to buy the winning Powerball ticket at the corner store that gave you the pocket change.
In any case, you should know the die markers for this illusive ultra rarity, the 1969-S DDO.
Thirty years ago, a New York hobbyist discovered one while searching through an uncirculated roll. Some 14 years later, another collector bought two 1969-S rolls from a coin dealer and found one double die in each roll. Another hobbyist found one in 2010.
Since then, PCGS has since graded 31 such coveted coins.
If you are dead-set at searching for this rarity, your best bet would be unsearched mint state rolls of the year, date and mint mark. Keep in mind that those rolls also are scarce and typically already have been looked at and re-rolled.
Nevertheless, you should know what the diagnostics look like before posting that you found this ultimate cent rarity, which sells for tens of thousands of dollars, (compliments of PCGS CoinFacts):
The story about this famous coin includes a major counterfeiting ring. Roy Gray and Morton Goodman produced fake 1969 double dies as well as other rare coins before the genuine one was discovered. As Jamie Hernandez writes on the PCGS website, Gray and Goodman began manufacturing this dubious double die, trying to get them sold:
“Gray contacted a collector by the name of Robert Teitelbaum and asked him to market the illegal coins. One of the first fake cents sold for $100. Later, Teitelbaum sold 2900 of the fake 1969 Doubled Die Obverse cents to Sam Jowdy for $92,000 (slightly more than $30 each). Gray asked Teitelbaum to place 85 fake 1969 doubled die cents into circulation in Washington. Instead, Teitelbaum turned over the 85 coins to the Secret Service.”
Gray and Goodman each received a two-year federal prison sentence.
You can buy modern replicas, counterfeits and low-value machine doubled examples via social media. Here’s an example selling for less than $3 on Etsy:
These also often turn up on eBay at fantastic prices, banking on your not knowing numismatics. Sometimes sellers just pretend to have one for sale, as in the example below:
This person bought an Etsy DDO and posted it on Facebook Coin Groups. All you need to do is compare diagnostics with the replica v. the authentic version.
Before you claim to have found this famous double die, read what error expert John A. Wexler has to say about all those machine doubled cents being passed off as the genuine coin:
Collectors also need to be aware that numerous 1969-S Lincoln cents have been found that show the common form of doubling known as mechanical doubling. These frequently confuse collectors into thinking that they have the major doubled die variety. Mechanical doubling is characterized by flat, shelf-like secondary images that usually affect the date and mint mark. When both the date and the mint mark show the same type of doubling, you can be relatively sure that you do not have the major doubled die variety.
Wexler’s Coins and Errors
Wexler also gives great diagnostics that you should also check:
I highly recommend visiting his site any time you believe to have found a double die or mint error. Wexler also regularly updates new finds. Click here for that.
Finally, the so-called “floating roof” 1969-S DDR was caused by allowing a worn die pair to continue production after vigorous die polishing at the mint. They typically sell for less than $10 as an oddity due to the creative name. Yet some sellers offer these coins for thousands on eBay, sparking new collectors to search for this faux error coin. Here’s an example:
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