1955 Double Die-Watch out for Poor Man's DD's

Below is an example of a "poor mans double die" and this coin is not rare and not related to the 1955 Double Die in any way. In fact the so-called Poor Man's Doubled Die isn't the result of the die being doubled, it's called doubling and there's a huge difference. The Poor Man's is caused by either and abraded die or is strike doubling.

You can find many other 1950's dates with the same "extra" digit and it's the result of the die being worn or loose during the strike, and this pushed the metal around the 5 mimicking a doubled die. A true Doubled Die, is when the die is already doubled, before it strikes the coin planchet.

 In true Doubled Dies the die itself has a doubled image so when it strikes the coin, it causes a doubling of the features that are identical in shape and height and width.

Poor mans double die is only a slang term to make the coin sound like a cheaper, or less dramatic version of the 1955 Double Die. However, it is far from rare and not only does it occur in the 1955 but many other dates have doubling in the last digit and many other denominations show the same abraded die doubling.

Many different kinds of doubling are known, strike doubling, abraided die, doubling, machine doubling, etc. and all will show doubling of a letter(s), digit(s) or design element(s). However, all the above doubling types will look flat and often weak. A true doubled design element will not be flat, but rounded and sometimes will make the letters or digits appear split or carved into.

The below picture is not a doubled die because the doubling of the 5 is flat. If it was a double die, the extra 5 would be rounded and raised just like the normal 5.

I hope this guide was helpful. If so, please review as helpful and thanks for reading.

Visit My Ebay to join our coin forum and visit our coin help website.