WKRC reprises the 1969-S doubled-die cent

Local12 (WKRC, 10 September 2026, 5:23) returns to the 1969 Lincoln cent struck at San Francisco with a doubled die obverse error. The headline says up to US$600,000; the body attributes the ceiling to an SD Bullion range of US$31,500 to US$605,000. The coin is not in Notofilia’s virtual collection. This is not a new Cincinnati find: the dispatch carries a Washington dateline and cites WTVT.

Not a second object

The variety is the same one we already summarised, with El Diario NY’s figures, in The 1969-S doubled-die cent. A second press serial does not create a second specimen. WKRC does add another population estimate: Stack’s Bowers speaks of 50 to 60 pieces “based on combined certification service statistics.” El Diario NY, on 26 August, cited the same firm with about 40 to 50 known. We leave both bands in view; we do not reconcile them.

The year 1969 is not enough

SD Bullion, in WKRC, calls this error “the most famous error coin” among Lincoln cents. The same text places ordinary 1969 mint-state strikes between US$10 and US$10,000, by colour and grade: that range is not the doubled die’s. The 1909 Lincoln was, the note recalls, the first regular-issue U.S. coin to show a real person.

WKRC closes with advice, not a hammer: anyone who thinks they hold a rare piece should take it to a reputable dealer. It points to the American Numismatic Association online directory. More detail in Local12 / WKRC (opens in a new tab).