Rare cent valued at $150,000 found in change in Southern Arizona

Rare 1969-S Doubled die cent discovered!

It’s the coin roll find of a lifetime! The ultimate find of a circulation coin you could hope for. The 1969-S Doubled Die cent is very rare and desirable as only about 100 examples are known. This coin was found in February 2025 in Southern Arizona by a collector whose name is Greg.

The coin is an original full red. There are a few contact marks - one to the right of the portrait and another on the shoulder and a third just above Lincoln's beard. There are very few marks on the reverse. There are only 4 examples graded in full red MS64RD by PCGS and under 100 examples known in all grades. Only two examples are graded higher. One of these sold at auction for $600,000 a few years ago. The offering of any example is noteworthy, but this is a fabulous newly discovered example.

Here is the current condition census:

#1 MS66RD Ex: Stewart Blay $601,875 in 2023. Some marks. 
#2 MS64+RD Ex: Michael Tremonti, $126,500 as MS64RD in 2008.
#3 MS64RD This coin - two significant marks. 
#4 MS64RD Ex: Pete Miller $126,000 in 2018, numerous significant marks.
#5 MS64RD $49,200 in 2022 - Numerous significant marks. The price was also influenced by the #6 coin selling very cheap (relatively) a year earlier.
#6 MS64RD $51,000 in 2021 Large black marks on high points. Sold cheap relative to the earlier sales for this reason.

A doubled die is not a double-struck coin, it is struck by a die that was doubled. The die is typically impressed multiple times to sink the design properly. If the die's position is moved between impressions then two impressions will show up. In this case, the die rotated slightly between impressions. Later, the mint mark is applied to the die. This is why no doubling is visible on the mint mark. Every coin struck from this die will show the same doubling.

Collectors have been searching for these type of die errors among regular coins for years and they are so popular they are included in regular date sets and are considered the crown jewels of any collection. Other doubled die cents include 1955 ($10K - $20K in MS64RD), 1958 ($1,000,000 in MS64RD), 1972 ($600 in MS64RD). The 1969-S doubled die cent is of a similar rarity as the 1916 doubled die Buffalo nickel ($200K-$300K in MS64).