Why Are They So Rare, 1969-S-Ddo, 1970-S-Ddo, 1958-Ddo?

20,000-40,000 is way low for a pair of dies. But yes, when the mint sees an error or variety, they try to stop them from circulating.

Lincoln Cent dies can strike over half a million coins before wearing out. Reasonable to say that for any die variety there could have been that many produced.

The 1969S doubled die was side-tracked by a fake 1969P doubled die that got the Secret Service involved. A few of the genuine 1969S doubled dies were destroyed out of suspicion, but that number is limited. Machine Doubling has nothing at all to do with doubled dies. Machine Doubling was common in San Francisco during the 60s and 70s, but it had absolutely nothing to do with doubled dies, so I'm skipping that part.

There are fewer than 50 1969S doubled dies known, but a new one does surface once in a while. There are two probable reasons for its rarity. First, it was probably noticed at the mint, and for the better part, destroyed. Second, these are not known in any die state past early die state. This probably means there were fewer than 5,000 struck, meaning that they probably noticed it and tried to get rid of all of them.

The 1970S doubled die is a much more recent discovery, and until recent years, was only known to a handful of serious cherrypickers. They are not as limited in number, probably because they made it through the process largely without detection. Again, it is a coin that is not known in later die states, so it could have been noticed, although later in the process than the 1969S DDO.

The 1958 doubled die is probably not an accidental happening. I have had the opportunity to examine both of them. The doubling is prominent enough to be seen under decent lighting conditions without a magnifier of any kind. The likelihood of pulling one of these out of a roll or bag at this point would be astronomically low. I don't bother "looking for them" because it's a waste of time. Should a third example ever surface, then it could be worth investigating further. To my knowledge this die has been known and documented as early as 1984 and not one more has been found. Kinda tells it's own story - you'll never find one.

Oh great....now I have to check 58's....

(it's like drugs to a junkie)

Thanks for the update post, mdpmedia. This is a coin that has always fascinated me. Despite what Mr Daughtrey said, with all due respect (and I have nothing but the greatest respect for Chuck) I like to think there are still a couple floating around out there somewhere. The fact that so few know of it's existence could make it easier to cherrypick.

I know that Stewart Blay has one in his set. Not sure which one though.