Rare penny showing Lincoln with double earlobe sells for $64,000

A 1988 penny featuring a rare error — President Abraham Lincoln with two earlobes — was sold at auction recently for $64,000.

The penny was sold by David Lawrence Rare Coins, and pictures show a faint second earlobe underneath the first on the face of the coin. The coin is one of three of its variety to be graded by the third-party Professional Coin Grading Service. 

The coin, sold in April, also brought in more money than the last one of its variety to be sold, which garnered $3,150. 

The $3,150 coin was sold in 2020, according to coin-collecting content creator World Numismatic News.

The doubled-ear penny that sold for $64,000 previously belonged to wildlife biologist Keith Christenson, a Pennsylvania State University graduate who plans to use the proceeds from the sale of his collection of Lincoln pennies to benefit future students at his alma mater.

Doubled-ear pennies, which occur in multiple minting years, are the result of a production error. 

When the dies for each coin were being made, the hub used to press the design into steel was squeezed multiple times and shifted during the process, resulting in a double earlobe on the eventual coins, according to World Numismatic News. 

The Treasury ceased production of the penny last November, due to production costs exceeding the value of a one-cent coin.