An extremely rare 1958 Lincoln, Doubled Die Obverse cent topped GreatCollections’ latest offerings of Stewart Blay’s collection of Lincoln cents, realizing $1,136,250 on Jan. 22.

Called “The King of Doubled Dies,” Blay’s example was graded Mint State 65 red by Professional Coin Grading Service and is the finest of three known examples. It carries a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker.

Q. David Bowers wrote in his 2018 edition of A Guide Book of Lincoln Cents that the 1958 DDO cent is a “Cherrypicker’s dream coin.” The doubling is especially strong on LIBERTY but is not present on the date.

Beth Deisher reported in the Oct. 17, 2005, issue of Coin World that Blay had acquired it in a private transaction for an amount “in excess of $100,000,” which established a then-record for a doubled die cent.

GreatCollections founder Ian Russell said it was the first Lincoln cent to sell at auction for over $1 million and the first non-gold 20th century coin to realize seven figures.

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