WDDR-001 Doubled Die Reverse

Description

Bearing the personal attribution of John A. Wexler, this Class II doubled die reverse on the 1890 San Francisco Mint Liberty Head Gold Double Eagle exhibits a spread toward center visible on USA, TWENTY DOLLARS, the arrowheads, upper rays, and extra points on most stars, with very close doubling on E PLURIBUS UNUM. The strongest displacement appears on DOLLARS, where the centripetal spread is most pronounced. Class II distorted hub doubling produces this toward-center displacement when angular misalignment occurs between hub and die during secondary hubbing. Beyond the reverse doubling, the obverse carries a repunched date with the 1 punched over itself to the south (1/1 South), adding a second variety to this already significant coin. Reverse die markers include a short, strong die scratch running north-northeast from the upper right of the A in STATES, plus a short die scratch in the same direction from the upper second T of TRUST. On a twenty-dollar gold coin, any confirmed die variety carries substantial numismatic significance given the precious metal content and the rarity of surviving doubled die examples in the Liberty Head series.

Die Markers

• Obverse: Repunched 1 in date, 1/1 South. Reverse: Short, strong die scratch NNE from upper right A of STATES. Short die scratch NNE from upper second T of TRUST.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Bob Ryan
• Expert attribution by John A. Wexler

External References