1958 Doubled Die Obverse

The 1958 Doubled Die Obverse is one of the rarest coins in all of Lincoln cent numismatics. Only three specimens are confirmed to exist. The doubling is strong and visible to the naked eye in IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY, similar in character to the famous 1955 DDO but incomparably rarer. Where the 1955 DDO has perhaps 15,000 surviving examples, the 1958 DDO has three.

The first was discovered by Philadelphia collector Charles Ludovico around 1960, who found it while searching through a $50 face-value bag of 1958 cents. The finest known, graded MS65 Red by PCGS, sold for $1,136,250 at auction. A second example, graded MS64 Red, is also certified. The third specimen is less well-documented. No other examples have surfaced in over six decades of searching.

The 1958 DDO is the final-year Wheat cent equivalent of the 1955 DDO: a dramatic hubbing error on a historically significant date. But where the 1955 DDO is a variety that serious collectors aspire to own, the 1958 DDO is a variety that serious collectors aspire to see. Three coins, one date, over a million dollars for the best one. Authentication by PCGS or NGC is the absolute minimum requirement for any transaction involving a claimed 1958 DDO.