A 1958 Lincoln penny with flawed doubling in some letters on the front of the coin sold for a record $1,136,250 through GreatCollections.com.

“The million-dollar penny is known as a ‘doubled die’ and it is the finest of only three known 1958 US cents that have severe doubling of letters in the motto ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ and the word ‘LIBERTY’ on the front of the coin,” GreatCollections President Ian Russell said.

The double die occurs when metal die used to make the coins is incorrectly struck twice making it appear double-struck. The penny had been owned by collector and sculptor Stewart Blay, who died in November 2022. His set of 276 Mint condition Lincoln cents that date back to 1909 sold for $7,731,811 in a series of six GreatCollections auctions that ended on Sunday, January 29, 2023.

“In addition to setting an auction record for the first million-dollar Lincoln cent, 13 other superb-condition pennies in Mr. Blay’s painstakingly assembled collection sold for record six-figure prices, ranging from $120,937 for a 1911 cent to $601,875 for one of the approximately 50 known doubled die cents made in 1969 at the San Francisco Mint,” Russell said.

“My brother began collecting coins when he was eight years old and started assembling the finest known collection of early Lincoln cents about 50 years ago,” Blay’s sister, Mariette Blay, said. “He was extremely proud of what became known as the Red Copper Collection and many of the pennies were exhibited at coin shows.”

“Stewart Blay spent decades traveling the country, visiting coin shops and coin shows on his quest for the very best, while also sharing his knowledge with fellow collectors and dealers,” Russell said. “He spent his life procuring the absolute best of the best Lincoln cents and they were very well received by collectors. It might be another generation before these coins appear on the market again.”