A Doubled Bowtie Cent on National Bowtie Day

A closeup of the 1984 Doubled Ear Lincoln Cent, seen here with arrows pointing out the doubled ear and doubling of Lincoln’s neck region, including his famous bowtie. Click image to enlarge.

Did you know August 28 is National Bowtie Day? That’s right, one of the most popular forms of symmetrically tied neckwear has its own day, and August 28 is the day we honor the attire accessory with roots in 17th-century Croatia.

Of course, not every clothing accessory of antiquity is as well known as the bowtie, and it’s probably because this versatile wardrobe accessory has been made relevant over the years by luminaries such as World War II-era British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, comedy actor Groucho Marx, comedian Paul Reubens (when playing his famous alter ego Pee-Wee Herman), and more recently science personality Bill Nye.

Then there was 19th-century United States President Abraham Lincoln. So famously did Lincoln wear a bowtie that it is enshrined with his likeness on the United States one-cent coin, becoming – perhaps – the most widely struck image of a bowtie on any coin ever produced. The Lincoln Cent has been in production, either for circulation or collectors, since 1909, and in that time more than 500 billion (that’s a half trillion) Lincoln Cents have been struck.

However, did you know that on some Lincoln Cents the 16th president’s tie is seen in double? It’s true – and the anomaly occurs on some of the popular obverse doubled dies. In fact, a doubled tie is one of the key diagnostics for the 1984 Doubled Ear Lincoln Cent.

While the additional auricle is indeed the central pickup point for identifying the 1984 Doubled Ear Lincoln Cent, another doubled component is Lincoln’s bowtie, which will present a secondary facsimile just below, or to the south, of the primary tie. The 1984 Doubled Ear Lincoln Cent is a major variety in the Lincoln Cent series and a popular coin of particular scarcity that can set collectors back by over $100 in Mint State grades.