Doubled Die Cent Hammers for $64,000

Many Lincoln cent enthusiasts know of the 1984 “Doubled Ear,” a scarce obverse doubled-die variety that usually retails in the range of $150 to $500. However, fewer collectors may be as familiar with another earful of a Lincoln cent that came along a few years later and is significantly rarer.

“Doubled Ear” Lincoln Cent

The 1988 “Doubled Ear” Lincoln cent is cataloged as FS-101 in Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties, authored by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton. An example graded Mint State-66 Red once fetched $3,150. So DLRC President John Brush was flabbergasted when the specimen his firm recently offered fetched $64,000. “My phone started exploding Thursday night with messages on social media about the record-setting price,” Brush told a Coin News reporter shortly after the April 2026 sale.

The specimen, graded Mint State-63 Red-Brown by Professional Coin Grading Service, hails from a larger set of Lincoln cents that was up for bids last month, the TropicalBats PCGS Lincoln Cent Registry Set. Wildlife biologist and Penn State University graduate Keith Christensen owned the set and said proceeds from the sale of his Lincoln cent collection will fund a scholarship program for aspiring wildlife biologists attending his alma mater. He says, “I’m incredibly excited that the sale of this Lincoln cent collection will help make that possible.”

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