IN some cases, seemingly ordinary loose change could be worth a treasured gold mine.
Consumers have been scouring their piggy banks in hopes of finding a rare coin worth more than its face value.
Texas woman Megan Green, 27, was inspired to take up the coin-hunting hobby known as roll searching after she watched a video on YouTube about a 1970 Washington quarter worth $35,000.
The quarter, struck over a Canadian quarter from 1941 rather than a blank one, piqued Megan Green’s interest.
“I was dumbfounded as to how someone would pay that much for a quarter. A thought then came to my mind about trying out this new hobby,” she told Coin World.
“If it was something I could enjoy doing, while also helping my family financially, it’d be a win-win situation.”
Green discovered what coin collectors deem the holy grail: a 1969-S Lincoln or San Francisco Mint Double Die Obverse.
Double Die means there has been an error in the manufacturing or coin mint process.
This causes misaligned stamping in certain phrases on the coin or penny in this case.
Scott Schechter and Jeff Garrett, who wrote the book 100 Greatest U.S. Modern Coins, ranked the 1969-S Lincoln Double Die second behind a Proof 1975-S Roosevelt dime.
When the penny’s anomaly first surfaced in 1970, it was deemed a counterfeit by the US government’s Secret Service.
Reported coins were seized until eventually, the 1969-S Lincoln was cleared as a genuine coin and returned to owners.
Since then, there have been limited discoveries for this type of coin.
Yet there are still a few floating out there for the luckiest or most dedicated coin roll hunters.
Note the value of these pennies is contingent on the rarity of the error, the coin’s condition, and the market’s demand for it.
In Green’s case, she was able to get her coin valued at a whopping $24,000 thanks to the Professional Coin Grading Service.
But Heritage Auctions confirmed certain Double Die pennies in great condition have gone for even more, as much as $126,500.
Serious money like that from one simple cent clearly must require some contingencies.
“The strike is crisp, and the peripheral elements show the variant’s characteristic doubling, with the effect most prominent in the word ‘LIBERTY’ and the date,” Heritage Auctions stated.
There are a few different reliable websites to refer to when determining a coin’s value:
When starting out as a coin roll hunter, it could be helpful to get to know local bank tellers.
According to Green, building a good rapport with them might make it easier to buy coin rolls on a frequent basis.
