1917 Doubled Die Obverse WDDO-001

Description

A very nice Class IV spread visible on the bison's eyelid defines the primary doubled die obverse for the 1917 Buffalo Nickel, struck during the last full year of American neutrality before entering World War I. James Earle Fraser's Buffalo Nickel design, featuring a composite portrait of three Native American chiefs on the obverse and an American bison on the reverse, was in its fifth year of production when this doubled die was created. Class IV doubling — offset hub doubling — produces parallel displacement where the entire secondary image is shifted in one direction, and on the bison's eyelid this creates a visible secondary line that doubles the natural curvature of the eye. Obverse die markers include a series of die scratches between the Indian's short feather and the rim. Reverse markers are abundant: a small die gouge dot below the center of M in AMERICA, a wavy die gouge behind the bison's left front leg, and an S-shaped die gouge combined with a long die scratch below the bison's tail. Cross-referenced as Wexler Variety ID 1917 5¢ WDDO-001, with photos taken by Brian Ribar. No other cross-references are known. The Wexler Team attribution of this primary DDO for the 1917 date establishes the foundational entry in a series where high-relief design elements make hub doubling particularly expressive.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Wayne Carson Cross References: None known Comments: The photos for this variety were taken by Brian Ribar.
• None known Comments: The photos for this variety were taken by Brian Ribar.; Wexler Variety ID: 1917 5¢ WDDO-001
• Expert attribution by Wexler Team

External References