Very unusual penny found

[trekkor]

My wife found this in our change jar.

It's double struck on one side ( normal Abe, with a reverse image from another coin )
Opposite side is blank!

What is this worth?!?







KT

[9dreizig]

I"ll give you a nickel for it ;-)

[slodave]

Lucky!

A few dollars to a few hundred.

[Heel n Toe]

That might be worth a pretty penny... uh, I mean, it might be worth a mint.

Sorry.

Seriously, it is usually that type of thing that brings decent dinero. The key to finding its worth and finding a way to sell it will be in finding someone who will be honest with you about it.

I imagine there are some knowledgeable numismatists here who can offer some advice.

[trekkor]

I've never seen anything like it ( in person )

I have a 1955 with a broken die error. Not near as interesting.


KT

[Embraer]

that's called a "brockage" error. if you want to spend like $50, you can have it professionally graded.

http://www.pcgs.com/

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by trekkor

I've never seen anything like it ( in person )

I have a 1955 with a broken die error. Not near as interesting.


KT

is it double stamped on the "1955"?

[trekkor]

I have this 1980 that has a damaged die stamp.



I'll look for the 1955...


KT

[HardDrive]

Not sure what its worth, but definitely worth more than a penny. Cool that its a 1976, unique year.

[on2wheels52]

There ae people who collect such 'freak' coins. Am thinking it may bring $20 or so. The 1955 double die penny is worth more because there was a fair amount of them that got through the mint and are thus a 'cataloged' item.
Jim

[Zef]

This remember me when my grand father passed away...He was in Germany in 1914-1918...and when he came back from there, he bring a lot of things with him...so before passed away, he gave me this 50,000 mark....so a couple of years later, I went to the bank to get it changed in today dollars...but they told me it was worth nothing...

[Tidybuoy]

Here's an auction for 8 defective pennies for $15

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-Pack-US-Pennies-Error-Defective-Die-Shifts-SHIPS-FREE_W0QQitemZ180379876069QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCoins _US_Individual?hash=item29ff7a7ae5&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1240%7C 293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[sammyg2]

It's worth as much as a fool will pay.

[trekkor]

Why does a collector have to be a fool?!?


KT

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by trekkor

Why does a collector have to be a fool?!?


KT

That penny has a certain value, the material it is made of. It is probably "worth" about 1.1 cents.
But some people will be willing to pay much more for it due to irrational, emotional reasons.
Doing something irrational and illogical because it provides an emotional response or attachment is foolish IMO.

Stuff that sells for more than it is worth simply because others will also pay more than it is worth is a fools game.

I'm not saying people shouldn't collect crap, that's their business.

I won't do it and I consider collectors either as speculative gamblers or foolish.
Actually being a speculative gambler is kind of foolish also.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

That penny has a certain value, the material it is made of. It is probably "worth" about 1.1 cents.
But some people will be willing to pay much more for it due to irrational, emotional reasons.
Doing something irrational and illogical because it provides an emotional response or attachment is foolish IMO.

Stuff that sells for more than it is worth simply because others will also pay more than it is worth is a fools game.

I'm not saying people shouldn't collect crap, that's their business.

I won't do it and I consider collectors either as speculative gamblers or foolish.
Actually being a speculative gambler is kind of foolish also.

Wow! Don't sugar coat it, how do you really feel?

You actually have good points, it's just that the emotional response is very real. I'll bet if any of us found a sheet of "upside down jenny" stamps (to use one famous example) in a box of stuff from our heirs would get a pretty good jolt of adreneline.

(and I'm neither a gambler, nor a collector)

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

That penny has a certain value, the material it is made of. It is probably "worth" about 1.1 cents.
But some people will be willing to pay much more for it due to irrational, emotional reasons.
Doing something irrational and illogical because it provides an emotional response or attachment is foolish IMO.

Stuff that sells for more than it is worth simply because others will also pay more than it is worth is a fools game.

I'm not saying people shouldn't collect crap, that's their business.

I won't do it and I consider collectors either as speculative gamblers or foolish.
Actually being a speculative gambler is kind of foolish also.

So you've never invested in a material object, hoping for a gain on your investment?

[kaisen]

Didn't a piece of toast that looked like the virgin mother sell for a few thousand dollars on eBay?

[Dottore]

Speaking of silly collectibles:

My grandmother gave me this years ago. Towards the end of WWII Hitler, in an attempt to keep morale up in Berlin, held numerous stupid award ceremonies, and handed out lots of certificates of honour.

One of these was an honorary certificate to all mothers who had three or more sons fighting in the war. My grandmother, who had 4 sons in the war (including my father), was invited in early April 1945 to a grand ceremony that was to take place on 30 May 1945.

Well Hitler committed suicide on 30 April, but had already signed all of these certificates. So the ceremony was cancelled, but my grandmother had the certificate hand-delivered sometime in May of 1945.

So now I have this certificate, with Hitler's signature (I've had this authenticated) dated 30 days after his death. Note the official Third Reich seal imprinted on the left.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I find these sorts of coins fascinating (and yes, I collect and have a few oddball ones like this).

There is something ironic and funny about people being willing to pay so much money for evidence of government mistakes/failures/incompetence though - I figure we pay enough for that every day anyway these days!