Sunday, June 2, 2013

Koooooj comments on After all the silver quarter talk, I decided to sort through my coins this morning. I found this baby valued around $2,000. Thanks reddit

Koooooj comments on After all the silver quarter talk, I decided to sort through my coins this morning. I found this baby valued around $2,000. Thanks reddit:
[–]Koooooj 280 points  ago
Just a clarification, the 1955 doubled die was not actually struck twice. This error comes from when the die was struck twice. The planchet (blank copper pre-penny slug) was only struck once, with an error die.
When pennies are made, the design goes through several steps before making its way to the copper. It starts as an oversized version that is engraved by hand which is then reduced several times until it is the correct size. A master die is formed from that, which creates several "working hubs." These working hubs are used to make the working dies, and the working dies are what actually strike the coin. In the case of the 1955 doubled die error the working hub struck the "heads" side die twice, producing the doubled image. At that point the doubled working die can go and produce thousands of the error, which is why there are a whole lot of this particular error (as compared with other errors) making it quite popular while still quite valuable.
If you want to increase the value of the coin, DON'T CLEAN IT (I don't know if you were planning to, but don't. It'll reduce the value even if it makes it shiny). You can also send it to a service like PCGS and get it "slabbed." They take the coin, verify its authenticity, and professionally grade it, then place it in a sealed acrylic case. If you don't want PCGS you can go with NGC instead.
The 1k-50k is probably a range that includes the actual value of the coin, but I wouldn't hold out for the top end. That said, though, the condition really is pretty good, and the 1955 Doubled Die error tends to not be that sharp to begin with since the die was struck twice. I would suggest getting this coin professionally graded then appraised by someone who isn't looking to buy it from you, so you can actually trust their price. I feel like you are really new to the field of coin collecting and there are plenty of people out there who would jump at the opportunity to snag this coin from an unsuspecting seller. Take things slow and get your money's worth.
As for the grade, you can refer to this[1] website to try to come up with the grade of the coin. It's hard to tell comparing your picture to the pictures on that site, but I would guess between AU50 and AU58. I've been collecting for about 8 years, but nothing serious. If you want to know the actual grade of the coin and, in turn, the value, get it professionally graded. For a coin this valuable the cost of the grading will be more than offset by the increase in value from having it graded.
Edit: Thanks for /r/bestof[2] ing this post! Also, the guys over in /r/coins[3] seem to be grading it closer to the XF 40 range, which I think is quite reasonable, and they probably know better than I do. Get it graded! (And post it, if you'd be so kind--we'd all like to know how this turns out!)

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