Was that 1955 Doubled Die Cent Authentic??

My friend finally got his 1955 Double Died Lincoln Cent back from submitting it PCGS!

What do you think it came back as? Authentic? Fake? Uncirculated?

Well, wonder no more…

Here’s how PCGS graded it:

If you’re wondering what “PCGS Genuine” or the “Cleaning” label is as I was (they usually come back with an actual grade, like MS-63, XF-40, or F-12), here’s what it means via About.com:

“A “PCGS Genuine” coin is a coin that has been placed in a PCGS grading service holder (usually called a “slab”,) without a grade attached to it. The coin has no grade because it is a “problem coin” of some sort, which can be identified by the code on the label in the PCGS holder. Coins designated as Genuine were formerly returned to the collector ungraded and non-holdered, in so-called body bags. Now, PCGS puts these coins into holders without a grade, just the designation that they are genuine along with a code explaining why the coin failed to grade.”

So the good news is that it IS, indeed, a legit coin – woo!, but the bad is that someone has cleaned it over the years – and thus “altering” it :( Maybe in trying to determine if their eyes were deceiving them?

It doesn’t take away from how rare or AWESOME this coin is, but it does unfortunately affect the value of it. How much can be determined by trying to sell it one day (awaiting to hear now what my friend plans on doing with it – personally, I’d keep it! It’s a chance in a lifetime to find one of these in circulation!!). It also helps having “AU details” on it, which stands for Almost Uncirculated, which is pretty damn good for a 60 year old coin!

Here are two more pics of the newly slabbed coin:

Congrats my friend! One helluva find regardless :)

If you’d like to read the original post we did on this, and how he came to be the new owner of this coin, you can check it out here: ¡The King Pin Penny!

Happy searching!