1857 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-005

Description

Attributed by the Wexler Team, WDDO-005 of the 1857 Flying Eagle cent exhibits strong Class I clockwise spread on USA, the eagle's beak, eye, head feathers, left wing, tail, leg, and talons. The breadth of affected design elements across both lettering and the eagle device indicates a substantial rotational misalignment between hub impressions, producing one of the more dramatic doubled die obverses in the Flying Eagle series. No obverse or reverse die markers were noted. Cross-referenced as Snow S18, CONECA DDO-004, and Flynn DDO-005. The 1857 Flying Eagle cent represents the first year of the small cent format that replaced the large copper cent, and doubled die varieties from this transitional issue are significant because the Mint was adapting to new production methods and die preparation techniques for the smaller planchet size. The strong clockwise spread across the eagle's anatomical features makes this variety visually compelling, as the rotational displacement is most pronounced at the extremities farthest from the center of rotation.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Not noted Cross References: Snow: S18; CONECA: DDO-004; Flynn: DDO-005
• Snow: S18; CONECA: DDO-004; Flynn: DDO-005; Wexler Variety ID: 1857 1¢ WDDO-005
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References