MAN STRIKES IT RICH WITH 1969 S DOUBLE DIE CENT

A Yuma man turned a few dollars into thousands in June after he sold a double-stamped penny for $21,510 at an auction on June 5.

Last December, William Gaitan visited the Foothills Walmart with his girlfriend to pick up their prescriptions. While there, Gaitan went to exchange $3 for pennies with hopes of finding a coin worth a substantial amount of money. His efforts paid out in spades.

Gaitan was given a book, “Strike It Rich with Pocket Change,” by his girlfriend’s son, who is an avid coin collector, in 2011. Since then, he has developed an obsession of sorts with coins and was on the hunt to turn a profit from the bronze and silver specie.

“They only had five rolls of pennies and a couple of quarters,” said Gaitan of the Sun Bank inside Walmart. It was in one of those rolls that he found a 1969 S Double Die penny. Double Die means that the penny has undergone a mint error where every number and word is stamped twice on the coin. “When I found it, I knew exactly what it was instantly, I just had to verify it,” said Gaitan.

“All the letters in it were double stamped. Everything was double stamped,” said Gaitan.

His family did not believe him at first. “They thought I was crazy,” said Gaitan. But after he showed them the exact same penny in the book and how much it was worth, they started to believe him. “I was using that book as a guide.”

His Internet exploration led him to the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), which certifies coins. “Me and my daughter drove (the penny) to Long Beach and I dropped it off at the PCGS coin show,” said Gaitan. “Next thing I know they emailed me saying it was authentic and it was valued at $24,000.”

To read the complete article, see: Collector's rare coin sells for $21K (www.yumasun.com/news/collector-s-rare-coin-sells-for-k/article_160a4dce-105a-11e4-bdd0-001a4bcf6878.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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