I’m looking for the doubled die

Christmas seems to have been a quiet one for collectors. A quick scan of some news headlines has so far not revealed anything out of the ordinary.

That is a good thing. The risk for anybody who makes a living gathering news as I do is to be unavailable for the big story. The perennials seem to be in bloom. The Salvation Army has been getting gold and platinum bullion coins in its red kettles.

Collectors have always applauded the generosity of the gifts and cringed at the idea of someone banging around coins made of precious metal. These gifts are also like the 25th rerun of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

When gold was first legalized Dec. 31, 1974, after a ban on ownership that stretched back to 1933, it was startling when the first gold coin gift was given to the Salvation Army. Now it is a matter of routine.

I saw a story posted on Coinflation about an individual who bought a truck using his accumulated change. This gives me the opportunity to mention what element would make such a story numismatic, because the general media seems to think that anytime coins are used to purchase anything more than a candy bar, that it is worth a story – and perhaps for them it is.

What would make the truck purchase story truly numismatic is if the car salesman or other staff member at the dealership would personally examine all of the coins and then discover a 1972 doubled-die cent among them. Then I would really be interested. Wouldn’t you?