By Charles D. Daughtrey on Numismaster

Reports of new doubled dies in Lincoln cents happen frequently, but very seldom does it occur that a major doubled die sees its first publication a quarter century after it was minted.

That was the case when collector and roll searcher Richard J. Ziegler of Quincy, Massachusetts sorted through a roll he had purchased at the bank in July and found something special; a 1982 small date zinc cent with major doubling on the reverse of the coin.

It took Ziegler nearly two months to find the equipment to properly image the coin, but as soon as he had photos to use, he promptly posted his find on the Coin Community Family forum (www.coincommunity.com) asking for help in its identification. Numismatists and die variety enthusiasts Charles D. Daughtrey and Bill O’Rourke quickly responded positively that Ziegler had scored a very nice find, and that this doubled die had never been listed by any of the major sources to their knowledge.

Arrangements were made to send the coin to Daughtrey, attributor of www.coppercoins.com, for photography and inclusion in as many major publications as possible to get the word out of its existence. Photographs of Ziegler’s coin were published on Daughtrey’s website on September 15th.