I appreciate the story and glad you shared and came out on top, but there's something else to be learned from your situation, just because a coin is date 1955 and is a doubled die, known or unknown, does not mean it's worth $250. 1955 is known for several doubled die varieties and only the 1955P-1D0-001 is the biggie with the 002 being a little valuable based on the grade.
You can find some cherries on ebay, but it takes a lot of time and effort.
CoinHelp,
I understand where you are coming from and in a lot of cases, what you said is true! However, I believe in 2005 (sorry but my memory of dates isn't what it used to be) I purchased a BU Red roll of 1955-P Lincoln Cents that were in a plastic tube from a local Coin Dealer/Friend for only $15. The roll was placed in a bag with other coin purchases that I made that day and when I got home, I put the bag away. Well, it was nearly two weeks before I finally got around to checking the coins in the roll. While I had no expectations of finding a 1955-P Double Die #1, I was still hoping for something (i.e. one or more Error coins or one or more very high grade Cents). However, after checking the first 5 Cents in the roll, I noticed some slight doubling on "IN GOD WE TRUST", thickness on "LIBERTY" and a doubled eyelid on Lincoln. After checking the Copper Coins' website, I knew that I had found a 1955-P Lincoln Cent "Double Die #2" Variety and incredibly it was an MS-64 RED specimen. I went back to checking the remaining coins in the roll and found two more Double Die #2 specimens and both were in the same condition as the first. All in all, there were 5 "Poor Man's Doubled Die" Cents, the 3 "Double Die #2" Cents and believe it or not, the rest of the coins were Double Die #3 and Double Die #4 Varieties. The first of the first "Double Die #2" Cents I sold on eBay and accidientally did not put a "Reserve" Price on the Auction and it only sold for $175. The second specimen I sold to an Error/Variety Coin Dealer/Collector at the Georgia Numismatic Association Coin Show in Dalton, Georgia for $275, he did not even blink at the price and shelled the money out right away. I offered him the 3rd specimen for $250 but he said that he only needed the one. At the very next Coin Show there, this Error/Variety Coin Dealer/Collector pulled me aside and asked to purchase the other specimen that I had offered to him. However, I told him that I was sorry but I traded it off for over $250 in coins at Dealer prices and which were worth about $350 in retail value. He said that he wished he had bought the coin when I offered it to him as he had the one that he purchased certified and graded and it came back from PCGS as an MS-64 Red and was the finest specimen known to exist. When I told him that I found 3 of the "Double Die #2's" in the roll, he was totally blown away. Well to finish out this story, I did not spend the time to attribute and try to sell the Double Die #3 and #4 specimens in the roll and eventually added 3 BU Red 1955-P "Poor Man's Doubled Die" Lincoln Cents to it and sold the entire roll of coins for $25. Yeah, I could have gotten a lot more by attributing the other Varieties but I was happy with what I had already made on the 3 Double Die #2's which ain't bad for a $15 investment. Nowadays, I check as much as possible with Coin Dealers and on eBay for BU Red rolls of 1955-P Lincoln Cents that I can get cheap, not $15 cheap but cheaper than what they normally go for.
Considering what I knew about what the "Double Die #2's" could fetch in high grade condition, I knew that the coin that I bid on and won on eBay would be worth a lot more. The reason why I knew is first, because I knew that it was a new and previously unknown 1955-P Lincoln Cent "Double Die" Variety and second, because it was like a hybrid between the Double Die #1" and Double Die #2" Varieties with stronger doubling than the Double Die #2 but less than the Double Die #1. I felt fairly confident that after receiving the coin, having it attributed by an Expert Attributer at Coneca, having it certified and grade by PCGS with the attribution noted on the label and once the word got out via Coin World, that the coin would probably fetch between $600 and $800. Oh well, I never received the coin due to a dishonest Seller, so we will never know what the coin would have trully fetched and how much publicity it would have received. To my knowledge, the coin has never shown up again on eBay or any other coin market and so far, has not been attributed, certified and graded.
Frank
