Chuck Daughtrey is a long time Lincoln cent specialist, numismatic researcher, author, photographer, educator, and the founder of Coppercoins.com.
His interest in coins began in childhood, and by his teenage years he had already narrowed his focus to Lincoln cent die varieties. In a 2002 introduction to the Collectors Universe community, Daughtrey described himself as a specialist in Lincoln cent die varieties and noted that he had begun collecting coins at age six and studying Lincoln cent varieties by age fifteen.
That specialization eventually led to the creation of Coppercoins.com, which Daughtrey established as a comprehensive online catalog and research resource for Lincoln cent die varieties. Over the years, the site has developed into an extensive reference for collectors studying doubled dies, repunched mint marks, over mint marks, design varieties, die stages, attribution markers, and other aspects of the Lincoln cent series.
Daughtrey is also the author of Looking Through Lincoln Cents, a detailed chronology and collecting reference devoted to the Lincoln cent series. Contemporary numismatic forum discussions document the book’s original publication and distribution in 2004, and Daughtrey continued to be identified in the hobby as its author for many years afterward.
His work has extended well beyond publishing. Through Coppercoins, online forums, educational presentations, club programs, seminars, and video, Daughtrey has spent decades helping collectors learn how to identify and understand Lincoln cent varieties. His educational philosophy has consistently emphasized specialization, organization, careful research, and skepticism toward unsupported claims. In advice he published for beginning collectors, he stressed the importance of learning from multiple reliable sources, understanding what one collects, and developing a focused specialty rather than simply accumulating coins.
Daughtrey’s research has also included detailed study of individual varieties and relative rarity. His published work and forum discussions include population and comparative studies of Lincoln cent varieties, including extensive work involving 1946-S mint-mark varieties. Fellow collectors have publicly credited that research as useful and important to the hobby.
He has also been active as a numismatic photographer and writer, combining close-up coin photography with detailed attribution information so collectors can compare actual diagnostics rather than rely solely on written descriptions. That approach remains central to Coppercoins: show the evidence, explain what matters, and give collectors enough information to reach informed conclusions.
Daughtrey is a United States Air Force veteran who served from 1986 through 1996. His earlier public numismatic profiles identified both his military service and his work as a numismatic writer, photographer, and Lincoln cent specialist.
Today, he continues that work through the latest generation of Coppercoins, combining decades of accumulated research with new cataloging, educational, collection-management, and community tools. The underlying purpose remains much the same as it was when the project began: to provide Lincoln cent collectors with accurate information, useful photographs, understandable attribution guidance, and a serious reference they can return to as their knowledge grows.
