1968 D 1c DDR - This is the one that got me hooked

[Russellhome]

I've collected coins on and off since the late 70's, but didn't get into variety hunting until I found a few of the Bison Nickel DDOs in the 2005 Westward Journey Nickel 6 coin sets I bought last year. I then decided to search my small hoard of BU cent rolls that I had since I was a kid. And just a few weeks ago, I found this 1968 D DDR in a roll of BU Memorial Cents (1959-1979 PDS). I bought that roll for about $3 back in 1980 or so. I was told that it is pretty hard to come buy. Billy Crawford told me it was not discovered until 1996. And turns out I had one all this time.





But the flipside to this story is the flipside of the coin. I was lucky enough to find a great DDR -- but unlucky in that it had some major rolling/counting machine damage on the obverse.



Still, I think it's a keeper.

I do have a question for the experts... Can you tell from the photo what die state this is? EDS/MDS/LDS? I have not learned yet how to distinguish the various die states.

[Bob P]

Hi Ken...Welcome to the coppercoins forum.
I guess I would get pretty excited if I found that awesome DDR too. Very dificult to find too...so great find. It is unfortunate about the rolling machine gouges, but it definitely is a keeper either way.
As far as the die state..the presence of and strength of die flow lines can be a factor in determining the die state. By looking at your pictures, I would venture a guess at your coin being MDS.

[Russellhome]

I learned something new recently about the 1968 D DDR. The variety exists with two different obverse dies.

Here's the scoop... Being bummed that the one I found was so damaged, when one came up on Ebay, I decided to upgrade to a nicer coin, bid on it and won it (planning to sell the damaged one). But with both coins in-hand, it looked like the mintmark placement was different. Plus, it had always puzzled me why I could not find any of the obverse markers on "my find" - but they were clearly there on the 1968 D DDR that I bought.



The Ebay purchase is shown above on the left -- my 'find' is shown on the right.



The reverse doubling is the same on both (although my 'find' has more die scratches)



So I did an overlay of the date/mintmark. And sure enough, it is a different obverse die. I just sent both to Billy Crawford to examine and he confirmed it. The Ebay coin is the first die and is the one that the known markers are done on. My 'find' is the version of the DDR after they swapped out the obverse die (likely due to the die crack on Lincoln's head). Billy also noted signs of a die clash on the 2nd coin - so the harsh die scratches on the obverse and reverse of my find are most likely the Mint's attempt to polish and cover up the clash.

So, it turns out - I will not be selling my 'find' after all. Having both obverse dies for this DDR just completes the set. Now if I can just find a 1968 D DDR with the 'Die 2' obverse for sale somewhere, perhaps then I could try again for an upgrade.

Interesting Stuff!

[Gabe]

Very good find! I have never found this doubled die, but will keep an eye out for it. Also, great looking pictures...

[Bob P]

See....I learned something too! I had no idea there was an obverse die change. I will have to remember that should I do any more attributions on that variety. I also need to check my coin of that variety to see which obverse die I have. Great pics and overlay Ken.