1955 Lincoln Cents 1909-1958 MS64RB

History

Victor David Brenner's Lincoln cent entered production in 1909 for the centennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, replacing the Indian Head cent that had been struck since 1859. The design came out of a direct working relationship between Brenner and President Theodore Roosevelt rather than a public competition, with the bust adapted from Brenner's 1907 medal and plaque, and by March 1909 the cent had been settled on as the denomination. By 1955 the wheat reverse was 46 years old and three years from replacement by the Memorial reverse. The year is remembered mainly for two events at other facilities and presses: the heavy hoarding of the 1955-S cent ahead of the pending shutdown of the San Francisco Mint, and the escape of a dramatic doubled obverse die at Philadelphia, dies that PCGS records were later found with abrasions on both sides, suggesting operators pulled them to grind off clash marks and then returned them to service.

Details

Brenner designed both sides, and the coin was struck in the standard bronze alloy of 95 percent copper with 5 percent tin and zinc, weighing 3.11 grams on a 19.00 mm planchet with a plain edge. Philadelphia struck 330,958,200 business strikes in 1955 without a mint mark, alongside 378,200 proofs; Denver contributed 563,257,500 pieces and San Francisco 44,610,000. Reported figures for the Philadelphia business strike range from 330,580,000 to 330,958,200. RB is a color designation rather than a distinct issue, so no production figure attaches to it; the Red-Brown population reflects how individual coins toned and how graders assigned them.

Features

The obverse carries the right-facing Lincoln bust with IN GOD WE TRUST along the upper periphery, LIBERTY to the left of the portrait and the date to the right, the right field holding the date alone on Philadelphia coins. Wheat ears flank ONE CENT and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on the reverse, with E PLURIBUS UNUM across the top. Two doubled dies are recognized for the date: FS-101, the famous variety popularized by dealer James Ruddy, with bold doubling in LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and the date, and the far less dramatic FS-102. PCGS carries a counterfeit alert for a newer fake of the FS-101 that imitates the die polishing lines seen on genuine examples but is given away by its surfaces and edge.

Notable facts

• NGC's published color criteria require at least 85 percent original red luster for an RD designation and at least 15 percent for RB, with anything below that graded BN.
• An RB coin brings more than a BN example at the same numeric grade and less than an RD example, and the spread widens sharply from MS66 upward.
• The auction record for the 1955 Doubled Die Obverse stands at $114,000 for an MS65+RD in March 2018.
• A non-variety 1955 cent in MS67+RD brought $38,400 in December 2022.
• A 1955 proof cent graded PR69DCAM realized $50,400 in June 2023.