1969-S 1C Doubled Die Obverse, BN MS64BN PCGS号2921

Ron Guth

The 1969-S Doubled Die Obverse Cent is a very rare variety that has enjoyed steady price appreciation over the years.  Sam Lukes, a dealer from Visalia, CA, recounts the following:

"In 1994, a collector from New York found an example of one in an uncirculated roll that subsequently was graded MS-64 RD by PCI [a now-defunct grading service].  I bought the coin and sold it on Aug. 24, 1994, to a client for $10,000.  I bought the coin back and sold it on April 4, 1995, to another client for $10,900.  I repurchased the coin and sold it again to a collector on June 22, 1999, for $25,000.  The coin was later crossed to PCGS at the same grade, MS-64 RD, and I was happy procuring this 'old friend' once again and reselling to another excited collector on Nov. 26, 2001, for $35,000.  Several months later, just as the present numismatic 'bull market' was getting started, I was very fortunate in acquiring the nicest of two PCGS MS-65 RD examples, which I then sold to a prominent East Coast collector for a record $59,500, on March 21, 2002."(1)

In December 2007, an anony mous collector purchased two rolls of 1969-S Cents from a Michigan coin dealer and found one 1969-S DDO Cent in each roll.

On March 29, 2010, a 60 year-old veteran, named Brian, discovered a high-grade example of the 1969-S Doubled Die in a roll of cents he had collected years earlier from circulation.

Since then, numerous other examples have been discovered.  As of July 2011, PCGS had certified 31 examples, including three Red-Brown and three Red examples.  The finest examples in all categories include the following:

2 in PCGS MS63BN
2 in PCGS MS64RB
2 in PCGS MS64RD

Sources and/or recommended reading:
1. Sam Lukes. "1969-S doubled-die value keeps rising."  NUMISMATIC NEWS, December 4, 2007, pp. 14 and 18.

"Collectors finds high-grade 1969-S DDO 1¢" by Ken Potter, COIN WORLD, July 12, 2010, pp. 1, 22, and 34